Kakashi ga Kill
by Comorep677
Summary: An ANBU agent must do whatever is necessary to protect the village. Not even an entire Empire will stop this whirlwind of death from taking out his target. Harem, lemons, slightly OP main character.
1. Kill the State

"I'm not going to hide this from you either," the strongest man in all the village said to the young prodigy wearing a white kabuki wolf mask with two red streaks across each cheek, "and as much as I hate to burden you with this, I'm afraid you're the only one I can trust with this mission." He scooched his oak chair back from his mahogany desk with books of laws and bills stacked in high piles waiting to be carried off to other political bodies in the village by secretaries. He walked silently on the carpet wearing his standard white and red long robes and diamond hat with the fiery red symbol of his leadership status in the village on the front for all to see. He looked out the wide window giving him a view of the bright and sunny training fields attached to the back of the compound he lived in, smiling a little at the aspiring youngest among them training diligently for their future. He saw himself in the window as well as the lean young man on the taller side with fair skin and short, spiky silver hair with a face concealed by the mask. "It's a simple premise, but don't underestimate the job."

The young man in the mask leaned against a bookcase on the wall next to the double doors leading into the small but cozy office. "What are we saving Konohagakure from this time, Hokage-sama?"

The Hokage turned around, facing the elite operative with an expression the young man knew too well. "Four months ago, our scouts at the surrounding territory's waterfront noticed battleships from a foreign nation to the Northeast of the Land of Fire, just 450 miles north of the peninsula ports to Kumogakure, it's name literally means 'The Empire.' The men aboard reportedly stuck their own flag into the ground, claiming our land as their own as well."

"Suttle," the agent said bluntly.

The Hokage reached onto the bookshelf and pulled off a scroll, opening it to reveal line after line of detailed reports on the incident. "Those aboard were hostile to our forces and some had to be put down." The Hokage saw the young man fold his arms and he agreed with the sentiment. They were just following orders. "We sent the ship back with most of the crew back to their country of origin, and since then our borders have been assaulted more than forty times. Any token of peace we send is returned."

"They're looking for a fight," the young man said, "have they taken any of our own?"

The Hokage looked down, resenting the invaders. "Four Shinobi on the outskirts died protecting our ports, and three towns were saved from staying frozen."

"Frozen?" the operative said, his interests seemed peaked.

"We don't know if The Empire is run by ice ninjutsu users or by defected ninja from ally villages, but in any case they are not interested in peace. Konohagakure is still recovering from the Nine-Tails attack," the Hokage said, "I need you to travel to this land, discover they are choosing to attack us and report back to me as soon as possible. I have exhausted all democratic methods to reach an understanding with this nation. The next step can only be war, but the village can't sustain intercontinental combat for an extended period of time."

An intel mission was a bit easy for him, although knowing his line of work, his direct interference with diplomatic relations between the two powers wouldn't end pretty. "Is there anything else I need to know about?"

The Hokage turned back toward the window. "Once you gain enough insight as to what we can exploit to deter their war effort or to take them down, send Pakkun back with your findings. You will stay there until I have sent him back with instructions for completing your task. Do whatever is needed to blend in, take every opportunity to learn more about the enemy."

Kakashi understood, although it seemed like it would be a long mission. "How long would I be in The Empire?"

The Hokage scratched his chin, he was an older fellow although his short hair was still brown and his forehead of few wrinkles. "Three months, at least. It's a long time to stay undercover, but this nation has no prior history with us. As much as we have to learn about them, they're no Shinobi village." The Hokage could sense the surprise in the young man's energy, he didn't need to express it. "You are potentially sabotaging the goals of an entire political power. Remember that. You are dismissed, ANBU." He turned around, his years of Shinobi experience boding the natural talent farewell. "And good luck. Your boat leaves tonight at 2100 hundred hours."

Kakashi bowed respectfully and vanished in a cloud of smoke. He reappeared in the center of the village with his mask tucked in the small bag strapped to the thigh of his blue duty suit that had a built-in facemask that covered his mouth and nose. Over the suit he wore his gray flak jacket and blue forehead protector with a steel plate brandishing the village emblem carved in it. The protector was tilted to one side over his left eye. He stuck his fingerless gloved hands into his pockets and kicked up some dirt with his blue sandals. It was a bit of a shock hearing that news, that suddenly he would be across the water for three months. The village center was busy in the evening; everyone was either just leaving work or coming back early, but others were still finishing their afternoon routine. "Hey, Kakashi! Let's go work up a sweat!" a gung-ho voice said from down the dirt path. The silver-haired ninja looked up, watching the bowl-headed picture of youth in a green jumpsuit running toward him.

"Guy, by that you mean jogging and not _racing_ , right?" Kakashi smiled, a slight tilt of the head with the eyes closing and eyebrows arching for anybody that couldn't tell from under the mask, and walked up to him, except the spirit of youth merely started running in place with his winning smile.

"Just jogging," Guy said, "I found this 200 meter stretch of grassland that's going to get turned into a detour around the forest just outside the village, I figured it's the perfect place for a small dash!"

"You said no competition last time," Kakashi said bluntly, folding his arms.

Guy chuckled. "Maybe it looked good for a sprinting race."

"You're impossible," Kakashi said, laughing with his friend. "Actually, I can't today."

Guy threw up his hands. "Ooh, what, big bad ninja man is too good to race?" Guy gave Kakashi his best smile and an optimistic thumb up. "Or maybe you can't handle the power of youth?"

"I'm going to be out of the village for a while," Kakashi said solemnly, making Guy's thick and bushy eyebrows burrow, "and I have just enough time to eat, pack, and make my way to the docks."

"You're leaving?" Guy said curiously. "Where are you going?"

Kakashi tapped his thigh pouch pocket on the mask tucked inside it. Guy knew that sound all too well after hanging out with Kakashi for more than a number of years. "I'm leaving tonight."

Guy's smile faded, his thick brows settling on his forehead in an understanding expression. The risk Kakashi took to keep Konoha safe daily was one Guy could relate to but nowhere near the magnitude of Kakashi. His silver-haired 'cool guy' friend had done things for the greater good that would never seem that way out of context. "I see." Guy gestured down the street as the first wave of people exited multiple service and office establishments on their way home. He punched Kakashi's shoulder and stuck his thumbs in his pockets, walking alongside Kakashi toward their neighborhood. "How long will you be away?"

Kakashi turned down a long, familiar street of apartment buildings reaching nearly the height of the daunting walls surrounding and protecting the village. "Three months, at the least."

"Three months?" Guy exclaimed.

"You'll have to settle with our record of 51 to 49, for now," Kakashi said, walking down a small welcoming path between shrubbery into a white apartment building. Guy followed him inside the flower scented lobby with green staircases leading up.

"No! We will have one challenge tonight to settle the score!" Guy proclaimed with all the fire of his youth. "I have to leave you with something to remember me by!"

"Guy," Kakashi said bluntly, opening the door to his residence, "I'm not dying. We'll have plenty of time to catch up once I get back, alright?"

Guy watched Kakashi enter his dim apartment and stopped the door from slamming on his fingers with an angry frown. "Would you at least want to get some dinner with a friend?"

Guy waited a moment before the door opened again to the cold Shinobi's masked face. "Ichiraku?"

That suggestion warranted a wide, sparkling smile from the spirit of youth. "You got it!"

Kakashi smiled. "Alright then. See you at seven."

"And don't be late this time, I know you," Guy warned before turning toward the staircase. "I have to go, these hamstrings won't stretch them-" The door closed before Guy could finish his statement. "Your downfall, Kakashi! That's one more lunge I can do!"

"If it's a trash-talking competition you want, then you win by default," Kakashi said from behind the door. Guy was a great friend, but he could be overwhelming at times. The young ANBU turned around in his small whirlwind of a studio apartment, quickly packing what he thought he needed for three months in his backpack. He slowly untied his forehead protector and tucked it over his heart under his jacket and swept some silver bangs over the uncovered eye. It didn't do the job entirely, but he thought it would be enough. He wouldn't spend too much time looking someone else in the eyes on this trip, it wasn't part of his job. He sat on the edge of his bed with his stuffed, black backpack and reached toward his bedside table for a small, orange book detailing a man and woman kissing passionately. "Two hours before dinner then an overnight boat ride should give me just enough time to finish this. It's been awhile since I started a new series, maybe it'll get my mind off-" He trailed off as he took a look at the picture in a frame behind the book, of him as a young boy standing with a boy and girl his age all held together by a blonde man with a wide, timeless smile. "Things." Kakashi laid back and cracked upon the book. By the time he sat up, he was half an hour late for his meeting with Guy. He calmly walked to the window three stories above the ground with his backpack on over his sword and book inside and opened the door. "I hope he's not angry," he said, walking with a purpose to a small, traditional Ramen stand with three red seats and a lit lantern on a stand off to the side under the setting evening sky.

Guy had his fist planted firmly in the chair as his own special way of saving it, as the other two were taken already.

"Thanks, Guy," Kakashi said, snapping the Shinobi's attention.

"Only 30 minutes, early to being late?" Guy joked.

Kakashi gestured the smiling cook with his young daughter sitting behind the counter. "Hey Teuchi, Ayame's getting big! I remember when you'd carry her around in that hat!"

The tall, sweaty ramen cook laughed, turning around with a pleasant smile on his face at the innocent little girl wearing a chef's hat too big for her head, happily playing pretend with her dolls on the other side of the food. "Kakashi, good to see you! What'll it be?"

"Miso soup with eggplant," Kakashi said, "put some extra spices in the broth so I'll remember the kick."

Teuchi immediately went to work, his skills with a ramen bowl better than any Shinobi's powers. Unrivaled. "You going somewhere?"

"Yeah, but just for a little while," Kakashi said.

"That might explain why you're so talkative today," Teuchi said, "just don't forget who makes the best noodles when you leave. Have a good trip."

"Thanks," Kakashi said, graciously taking the bowl from the cook himself. Guy watched carefully, waiting to see if he could gaze under the mask. He sighed as the bowl seemed to eat itself. Kakashi was never the type to talk a lot over food, that was one thing he liked about him.

Guy looked over and sniffed, letting the spiciness smack his nostrils. "That's a pretty spicy bowl you got there, how much spice did you put in it?"

Kakashi slowly looked up from his soup and set his chopsticks down on the napkin. He tilted his head back and gripped the table, taking a deep breath. "If I tell you, will you order exactly one unit more spice than this bowl, right here?"

Guy kept a straight face, although Kakashi could tell Guy was struggling keeping his lips from curling up. "No."

Kakashi smiled under the mask and picked up his chopsticks again. "I put in eight spoonfuls."

Guy suppressed his shock under a confident smile. "Teuchi, could I get _nine_ spoonfuls of your black curry spice in my bowl?"

Teuchi locked eyes with Kakashi at first, who advised him to play along with a nod. "You got it!"

Guy received his bowl again, the smell so strong Kakashi had to pinch his nose under the mask. Guy was already tearing up. "That one extra serving must really trigger the kick, but hey, this is gonna taste good!" Kakashi watched calmly as Guy's bright red face darkened several hues as the spice took effect.

Teuchi chuckled at the sweaty Shinobi on the verge of death. "Well? How is it?"

Guy croaked out a few words. "Yup, great." He used all of his willpower to force a smile at Teuchi. He turned to Kakashi and glanced angrily at the empty bowl. "What do you think of that, Kakashi?"

Kakashi shrugged, sliding his bowl forward. "Oh no, you win. 51 to 50 now, yeah?"

Guy slammed his fist on the counter. "Take… this… seriously!" he said, his throat feeling like it was on fire.

"I think I need to train some more before I can get up to your level," Kakashi said, bowing to Teuchi and thanking him for the meal. "You're making it look easy!" He stood up with Guy and chuckled as the bushy browed Shinobi's skin went from red to pink over time. "It's like you're sunburning but backwards."

Guy and Kakashi walked to the gargantuan village gates casting a great protective shadow over those inside the walls in the night. "I'll get you next time," Guy said grumpily, "you don't just give up on the ultimate endeavor of the soul!"

"I just wanted soup," Kakashi said.

" _Everything_ is the ultimate endeavor of the soul!" Guy said. "And that, my friend, is the wisdom I leave to you. Farewell."

Kakashi nodded and went over the gates by running directly up the walls. He leaped over the edges and landed several stories below on the dirt path leading from the village to the rest of the world. He reached the docks and took a medium-sized passenger boat with men of all creeds and nationalities allowing him to blend in perfectly. He made sure to avoid anyone that seemed suspicious- talking meant less time to read, the book was getting good. He found himself below deck in one of the small cabins to himself with the book. It was a little cramped but he found it cozy; the small cot of a bed was pushed up by a small, circular window letting home's starry night sky comfort him with the moonlight that pierced the glass. He slipped his backpack off and put it at the foot of the bed. "I'll read a little then go to bed," he told himself, sitting with his back by the wall next to the window. He reached toward the rickety bedside table and flipped the switch for the caged light bulb above. He flicked it up and down while staring at the bulb, stopping himself before he grew more annoyed. "Oh well. I wouldn't want to waste the whole book by reading it now anyway."

He laid across the bed facing the steel door with one hand resting on the red handle of his katana. He was used to sleeping with one eye open in his line of work. Although his eyes closed, his mind did not, and upon opening them again he was using the moonlight to guide his path as he nosedived into the novel until it faded into the sun's more rousing rays.

He closed the book painfully with half the story remaining and he reluctantly turned toward the sun, squinting and feeling repulsed by its power. "Damn it," he spat under his mask, the sudden jolt of the ship hitting land accompanying his current state of feeling thrown against the wall. He looked in the small mirror opposite the door. "Well," he said, "at least now both my eyes will be red." He gathered his belongings and walked up to the top deck; it was colder here than it would ever get back home and it made him regret wearing short sleeves, but the forests in front of him and the imposing wall to a grand castled Empire upon the horizon all under the bright and welcoming sun on the waterfront let him relax his muscles a bit. Other jobs never welcomed him this grandly, in other cases he'd be swimming to his target. Maybe an entire government as his target granted him better transportation. He walked off the top deck down a long ramp dug into the dirt and figured the dirt path leading into the forests would take him to the capital. He couldn't ask any of the heavily armored guards waiting on the beaches, so he figured he'd start walking and later vanish into the trees. He slipped into a crowd too big for the border watch to count all of them and started his brisk walk down the dirt road for the city on the skyline.

"Wait! Sir! Do! You need me to! Assist?!" a man with a strong voice shouted for him. Kakashi didn't look back and faded into the forests. It didn't take all morning to realize that was a carriage company willing to take him to the capital, rather the third horse-drawn buggy that whisked people to the city walls tens of miles away the same voice that beckoned to him earlier slowed down his horses over the hills with the same power.

Kakashi didn't feel bitter although his feet screamed otherwise as he bounced on the tree branches like a shadow. Better safe than sorry. He followed that buggy as the road began to wind and pass over several guard checkpoints as the city that dwarfed Konohagakure tenfold grew closer with every passing moment. "They take security very seriously for a traveling cart," Kakashi said, flipping over a fork and into the center foliage as a silver streak. "Maybe they're expecting some action from overseas, or maybe civil unrest in the countryside- Whoa!"

His toe hit a branch but the wood snapped as the tree shook violently from a great tremor under the Earth. Kakashi stopped with the buggy but kept an observant eye from the trees. Kakashi gripped his katana in apprehension as the ground split in front of the buggy. The horses reared on their hind legs and neighed for their lives before they were tossed aside by the thick, scaly amber arm of the monster hiding just beneath the surface. Kakashi watched the ground make its way for 20 feet of reptilian humanoid beast with red eyes, horns, and woody spikes going from its long tail to up its back. "Ah! It is! A Danger Beast! From! The mud!" the buggy man shouted, jumping off his cart and hiding behind the gnashing goliath. "Who! Will be there! To help! Us!"

The subterranean "Danger Beast" let out a piercing roar that made the tree Kakashi hold onto quiver. The door to the buggy opened and a spry, young fair-skinned man around Kakashi's age with shoulder length, unruly light brown hair and innocent green eyes leapt out with a European short sword to face the demon. "You don't need to worry, sir! This happens all the time back home!"

Kakashi watched the young man take a sloppy fencing stance, although he did appear from his form to have trained somewhat. He wore leather forearm and shin guards over a yellow sweater and white collared shirt underneath and black jeans with a pair of walking boots, maybe this happened often in the countryside. The young man let out a battle cry and charged the beast.

Kakashi watched the 10-foot vertical leap followed by a slash to the monster's arm from the valiant savior. Blood sprayed onto the mud but the hero showed no mercy, hacking and slashing at the legs with all his might until the creature roared in pain and reared both its arms above his head to smash the puny human. Kakashi's attention, however, shifted toward the road again. "Forget my other guesses," he said, darting across the air and cutting its head off with one clean, silent strike of his blade. He landed on another tree, carefully wiping the blood away and sheathing his blade. He sank into the leaves as guards that looked more metal than man stormed the path to examine the kill. The young man was given accolades for his kill, and it even earned him a brown satchel with some gold coinage. Kakashi slipped over the clamor and continued his ascent up the path, seeing the city limits within a short sprint. He slipped back onto the track and looked up in amazement; the wall he saw all the way from the docks merely protected the castle on the capital's peak. "This place is massive," he said, thinking out loud. He walked up to the outer gates to what looked like a small urban village with cobblestone streets, still taken back by the vast physical reaches of The Empire.

"You're damn right it is," one of four guards blocking the fifteen-foot stone gate said. "You gonna state your business or just keep staring?"

Kakashi could hear the Hokage slap his own forehead. "I came here looking for work."

The guards glanced at each other and back. "You don't look like you're from around here, what's wrong? Your village burning down?"

"Is that what happened to your face?" another chuckled.

Kakashi flickered a frown. "It got cut by the Danger Beast that killed my family."

The laughing stopped and they looked at each other again and back. "Well young man, if you want in, you'll have to pay a welcome tax."

"Oh, come on guys," Kakashi said, hearing another buggy roll up to the gates from behind him. "You and I both know that's bullshit."

One guard simply shrugged. "Oh well. Sorry for your family."

"No! Wait!" a familiar voice shouted from the buggy window. The door opened again to the slayer of the Danger Beasts stepping out. "I'll pay his fee!" He walked up to the guards and put ten gold pieces each in their greedy hands.

The gates almost immediately parted for them and the two warriors strolled into town. It was loud, crowded, and bustling, of all people from all walks of life. It seemed roughly as busy as Konoha's restaurants during the lunch rush at Ichiraku or Shushuya, although there were far less men and women wearing the village's forehead protector. He ran his hand across his chest to make sure he still had his. "Thanks, but you know there was no entrance toll, right?" he asked the green-eyed hero walking next to him.

"Everyone in this capital will know my name," he said confidently, "whether there was a fee or not, it doesn't hurt to start your journey with people liking you." He noticed the red-hilted katana sheathed behind Kakashi's backpack. "You're traveling too, huh? Yeah, you don't look like you're from around here."

"I'm here for work," Kakashi said, repeating the lie he told the guards. "If I can rise through the ranks, I can get the government to pay some attention to my village. It's too poor and keeps getting attacked." Kakashi noticed the excitement in the young man's face.

"Me too, small world!" He extended his hand. "The name's Tatsumi, another country boy looking for fame and fortune in the big city, yeah? Watch out for that, I was told this city has some monsters of its own, but all I need is enough money to feed my village!"

Kakashi returned the gesture, shaking his hand. "Kakashi. It's a pleasure. Is there a recruiting station we can visit?" He hoped he'd get a sense of the military's position if he could get some information from the lower generals.

"I was given directions to the barracks," Tatsumi said, pointing down the road.

Kakashi nodded and walked with the country native, discussing Tatsumi's village and the friends that were supposed to meet him at the rendezvous point a few days ago. "So the capital basically ignores the outer regions of the country, Sayo and Ieyasu come to the capital with you to fix that, and now they're gone?"

"They probably just got here earlier, I just have to find them," Tatsumi said, keeping his excited smile as they approached the small building with a round sword-and-shield banner over the door. "Let's go." Tatsumi whipped the doors open, revealing a small room inside inhabited by two plated guards and a squat man in chainmail sitting at a short desk with a pile of forms.

Kakashi walked up to the desk first. "Hello, we're-"

"Two _more_ applicants?" the officer in the chainmail said, "well, welcome to the capital! Please take a form and fill it out, bring it back within the day."

"Can I ask you some questions about what we would be doing during our tenure under the capital's army?" Kakashi said, although Tatsumi seemed to have less time to waste.

"Forms?" Tatsumi read the starting rank indicated by the paper. "I'd be starting out as a grunt!" Tatsumi slammed his hand on the table. "I don't need forms to get into the army! I'm commanding officer material, let me show you!"

Kakashi hopped back. "What the hell are you doing?"

The officer slid back in his chair. "Guards."

Tatsumi saw a flash of gray and before he could swing his blade he was getting tossed on the street by his face. The guards pointed their lances at Kakashi.

"You too," the officer warned.

Kakashi sighed. He'd find another way to get what he needed to know. "Got it."

He calmly walked out and peeled a fiery Tatsumi off the ground. "Why those-"

"Calm down," Kakashi said, holding his angered peer's shoulders before he got himself killed. "If you charge back in there, you'll only get thrown out again."

Tatsumi pushed past the Shinobi and shouted at the officer staring at him through the door. "Hey! At least gimme a chance!"

"We've had a non-stop stream of applicants during the recession that hit the whole damn country three years ago, you think we can just accept any dumbass that meanders in my station?" the officer shouted back. "You want to die for the Empire? Come back in two weeks after the Emperor announces his plan to pull us out of this mess!"

Maybe Konoha was their way out of hard economic times, Kakashi thought. He remembered the boom Konoha experienced during the last war he lived, and fought, through. "Tatsumi, it's not worth it."

Tatsumi watched the door slam and he let his fists uncoil as he slumped to the ground. "Maybe you're right. I could cause a scene and make a name for myself-"

"How about we not," Kakashi said. "You'll figure something out."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Tatsumi said dryly. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to find another recruiting station and get a form," Kakashi said, maybe hoping to try what should have happened earlier again. "It was nice meeting you, Tatsumi."

Tatsumi seemed a little sad at his acquaintance's sudden departure. "Would you want to go together?"

Kakashi couldn't just say no. "I have questions I need to ask, and your needs seem very urgent. I wouldn't want to waste your time." He smiled and started a brisk walk for another directory.

Tatsumi hopped to his feet and ran behind the Shinobi, but a crowd later and the mysterious silver-haired man was gone. Kakashi simply waited in an alley for Tatsumi to pass and emerged again. He continued his walk through the village, bouncing to four more stations until early in the evening and receiving the same information.

"The Emperor is going to announce his 'fiscal solution' in two weeks," he wrote in a small, discreet brown journal, leaning up against a street light illuminating the path between a barracks building and a restaurant, "this has led me to believe the attacks on our fronts have been expeditionary, that they have yet to figure out entirely what they're going to do; overall, the country is mobilizing but they have more bodies than soldiers." His stomach started talking too, and this voice seemed the loudest of them all. He looked toward the restaurant he had just enough foreign currency for across the street. He sighed and answered the call, sitting down at an outside table in the corner of the patio, ordering a meal while filling out one of the forms with a fake name and the capital itself as his place of birth.

"Excuse me, sir and madame, your plate is here," the server said, "although you did not mention she would be joining you tonight."

Kakashi looked up at the golden-eyed blonde with designedly wild shoulder-length hair and fair, radiating skin and a mischievous small smile that had joined him a few minutes ago, simply observing him from across the table. He didn't mind, she didn't know him, and if she did, she'd better strike first. He kept a hand on his thigh pocket still, slowly inching his grasp around a kunai knife or two just in case. "My mistake," Kakashi said, "thank you."

The server tended to the woman's orders, letting Kakashi examine her for a couple of seconds. She wore a tight, black tube top that pressed her considerably large bust together, white, baggy pants, brown shoes and a white scarf around her neck. She seemed like an athletic woman, her physique said so. The server left and the woman set her eyes on the Shinobi again. "Hi there," she said, her voice playful but not childish. "You seemed to be stressed out and not from around here looking for work, and I figured you could use a womanly charm."

Kakashi put down his forms and leaned back into his chair. "I guess when you've lived here long enough, you can tell who isn't from around here."

"You've got that right," she said with a grin, "you seem like a pretty smart guy then, so how about you treat me to dinner and I point you in the right direction to get all the info you need."

Kakashi noticed she said 'info' and not 'job.' His hand edged closer to his kunai blade. "Well, you're already here, so it'd be more rude now if you left."

She covered her mouth when she chuckled. "You're funny, that's cute. Have a name?"

"Tell me yours first," Kakashi said, "so I know who to thank when I'm the best field warrior The Empire will ever see."

"Confidence, I like it. The name's Leone, don't forget it," the golden-eyed woman said, looking up at the arriving platter and gasping in excitement as two frothing glass mugs of beer, shot glasses, and whiskey were slammed onto the table. Kakashi watched in amazement as Leone claimed both cups as hers. "Nothing beats an afternoon drink," she stated, taking a swig of beer and slamming the mug onto the table. "Do you want some?

Kakashi poured himself a small shot glass of whiskey but didn't drink it. "You mentioned you had a source of information for fighting with The Empire. If you wouldn't mind, I would like those details."

Another plate of food snaked its way over to their table for Leone and the blonde quickly took advantage of Kakashi's kindness, chowing down on the meal before Kakashi had taken a bite of his own food. She looked up at the masked man and down at his plate, seeing nothing left. "How do you eat with that mask on? Oh, right, your info." She sat up as the server brought the bill to the table and left it on Kakashi's side. She stood up and pushed her chair in, giving Kakashi a reassuring smile. "Be right back, sit tight, okay?"

Kakashi looked at the brown satchel at her side and recognized it as the satchel of money given to Tatsumi after he killed the Danger Beast. He chuckled. She probably thought she got a meal out of him, but little did she know that her first mistake was letting him know her name. "You got it," he said, watching her walk away victorious. He looked up at the server. "Split the bill, half of it to Miss Leone upon her return." He placed the gold for half the meal on the table, stood up, and left the restaurant. The server rushed after him, but like a phantom, Kakashi seemed to just fade away.

Evening turned into night and the streets had died completely. Kakashi seemed like the only one outside, except for the curious guard here and there.

"Strange," Kakashi said, "I wonder what goes on when the lights go out." He kept walking around, passing into an alleyway when a series of posters caught his eye. He stopped to read them, seeing a picture of a raven-haired woman and a green-haired man side by side. "Akame, Lubbock, Night Raid," he read, but the words following that kept him interested. "Assassins against the royal empire that come out at night to wreak havoc upon the good people of the Empire, stay indoors if you think you have some value of life." He chuckled a little and moved out of the alleyway, sitting up against the building using his backpack as a pillow. "I guess tonight I'll be testing fate."

He waited there for an hour, simply reading and enjoying the silence, however the young woman in the red buggy that stopped on the other side of the street had other plans. Kakashi stood up with one hand over his thigh pouch.

"Can I help you?" Kakashi asked. He could tell by her horses that she was from the bureaucracy, exactly the target of an anti-establishment radical group as depicted on the wanted posters.

The door opened to a petite blonde woman with blue eyes and an innocent, wide smile. "You there! Are you in need of lodging?"

Kakashi smiled. "No, but thank you!"

She wasn't convinced. "You're all alone, out on the streets! Please, let me take you in for the night!"

Kakashi couldn't believe how upfront she was about all of this. "No disrespect, but don't you think randomly picking up strangers in the middle of the night is a bit creepy?"

The young blonde laughed and beckoned him over anyway. "Your friend, Tatsumi, put in a good word for you. I live in the political districts, don't worry!"

The Shinobi wasn't sure if that made him more relaxed or apprehensive. Then again, this was a golden opportunity to learn about the government here. He carefully approached the buggy and stepped inside it, shaking the generous woman's hand. "Thank you so much," he said as the buggy took off at a quick pace. "I apologize for my comments earlier. I can be a bit of a cynic at times."

The blonde in the blue and white dress didn't mind. "Oh, it's no worry at all!"

Kakashi laughed with her and looked out the window, watching the quality of housing increase starkly at the entrance to a small, gated community. Bad distribution of wealth, he reckoned, as they pulled up to a three-story mansion larger than any single house he had ever seen. "Welcome to my father's mansion, he's a member of parliament here. My name is Aria, and yours?"

Kakashi stepped out of the buggy and followed Aria inside the extravagant household. "Kakashi. I'm not from around here."

"Oh! Where are you from?" she asked, leading him up a flight of stairs and into a cozy library with an oak table for tea.

"Far away," Kakashi said under his breath, seeing the brown mop of hair that could only belong to Tatsumi sitting next to a taller, older blonde and a short, stout man in a tan suit with gray hair sipping on tea. "Hey!"

Tatsumi's head perked up and he spun around, smiling at the other young outsider. "Kakashi! I wanted to apologize for messing over our experience with the soldiers today."

"Apologize? I'm thanking you," Kakashi said. "If it wasn't for you, I'd be out on the streets tonight, prime Night Raid prey!"

Tatsumi's expression went cold. "You saw them too?"

"No, but I saw the wanted posters," Kakashi said.

The man of the house scoffed. "Dirty bastards, they are." He looked up and smiled at the young Shinobi. "Please! Have a seat! The butler can fetch you some tea!"

Kakashi sat on the couch with Aria right next to him. The other blonde looked like Aria's mother. "Miss Aria told me you were a politician, so surely you would know something about this 'Night Raid,' yes?"

The parliament member nodded and furrowed his thick brows. "Nasty ones, they are. They think they're fighting corruption and subjugation of the people when they're the reason most people stay indoors after midnight. I've never seen them, but my colleagues have, and they are a blight that must be taken care of. If you're enlisting in the army, be careful of them."

"But for now," Aria cut in as the butler arrived with a platter of wine glasses. "A toast to these young men's military successes!"

Kakashi politely took his glass and touched crystals with the rest of Aria's family. Tatsumi sipped his first, his mind completely undistracted from the six figures darting across the window in the back of the tea room. Kakashi set his glass down and kept watching them bounce closer to the house from tree to tree.

"Oh wow," Tatsumi exclaimed, holding his head. "I must not realize how tired I am."

"That's right, you two," Aria said, standing the visitors up and whisking them through a long hallway to a set of connecting rooms. "Off to bed! You've got big plans for tomorrow!" Kakashi watched Tatsumi stumble through the hall and nearly crash into the doorpost. He eyed Aria with suspicion. He wouldn't be sleeping tonight. She quickly delivered them to their rooms fit with big, comfy beds and white dressers. "If you need anything, I'll be just down the hall!" She closed the main doors but Kakashi opened the connecting door to Tatsumi's room and walked in, standing over the sleeping army hopeful. Kakashi rolled Tatsumi onto his side at the edge of the bed and pushed it up against the wall. He pushed down to hear the bedframe squeak loudly.

"You're not the only one who can set up a trap," the Shinobi said to himself, returning to his room and laying under the covers with his hands fit with kunai knives. What didn't wake him was a sneaky attempt to kidnap him or Tatsumi.

The door crept open to Aria standing with four guards over Kakashi's bed. "You two," she said in a very cold and spiteful tone "extract subject 14. I want to deal with this myself. How dare he call me creepy!"

Another guard kicked down the door. "Miss Aria, it's Night Raid."

Aria seemed to shove that announcement aside. "Take care of them. I have more important matters to attend to."

"Your father gave me orders to take you and the subjects to the workshop until it's over," the same guard responded, grabbing Kakashi by the shoulder. The Shinobi whipped around, throwing his knives through the chinks in their armor at fatal positions. He whipped them back out and stored two of them in his thigh pouch. Aria screamed and fell back, allowing Kakashi to stand unimpeded.

"I don't regret what I said," Kakashi said. Aria screamed for help and darted into Tatsumi's room, shaking him awake. The brunette's eyes slowly cracked open and he sat up, rubbing his

Tatsumi yawned. "Oh hi Kakashi-"

"Night Raid's here, you were drugged," Kakashi said, "I'm going to investigate the 'workshop' one of the guards mentioned, leave this place right now."

"Night Raid's here?" Tatsumi exclaimed, quickly rolling out of bed and slipping on his shoes. He slung his sheathe over his back and drew his sword. "But why? And I was not drugged!"

"The wine had some soft tranquilizer in it, you don't just pass out after two sips!" Kakashi shouted. Aria screamed from downstairs and Tatsumi pushed Kakashi aside.

"Miss Aria!" The noble hero dashed through the halls followed by Kakashi and out the front doors, looking up and pointing his sword at the five shadowy figures silhouetted by the moonlight, floating on glinting strings in the air. Aria had an escort leading her away from the pool of blood quickly growing around the feet of the soldiers attempting to inch any closer to the assassin group.

"Tatsumi, this way!" Aria cried. Tatsumi listened without a second thought and ran; Kakashi stayed behind the guards to watch what was hacking them to pieces and hopped over the crowd of steel to observe from another angle. It was a girl around his age with a slim, curvy figure and long, straight black hair, pale skin, and big red eyes that made her look like she was meant to kill with her long, black blade. She wore a simple black blouse and skirt with white stockings and black shoes that she was surprisingly quick in, darting toward Tatsumi and Aria's position before the Shinobi could land. The remaining guards stepped forward to charge but another assassin, a tank of magic armor with a double-sided lance, had already taken their attention. With masterful and heavy stabs the guards dwindled to zero, and the Shinobi was caught in the crossfire.

"You must be a mercenary," the tank man said, spinning his lance and falling into his fighting stance. "I hate to tell you the bad news, but this'll be your last job."

Kakashi didn't need to end them yet. "I'm not here to fight you, nor the lady with the gun pointed at my collar bone from your drop point, nor your scout hiding in the trees."

The tank scoffed. "You're pretty attentive for a dead man."

"Tatsumi and I were drugged, well, he was, and then you showed up," Kakashi said, "I have no quarrel with you."

"And why should I believe that?" Night Raid's muscle said. "You're just going to tell the authorities anyway."

"Considering how Miss Aria was going to kill us in some fashion," Kakashi said, "I couldn't care less."

"Sounds kinda bullshit from a guy with two knives in his hands, doesn't it?" the armored mountain said, charging the man in silver.

"I don't have time for this," Kakashi said, hopping back while performing a quick series of hand signs. He put his hands together for the final sign. "Earth-Style Wall!" he exclaimed, using an intangible and terrifying force to raise a sheet of mud and rock twenty feet into the air. Kakashi reached into his thigh pouch and pulled out a red paper slip with a bright yellow warning on both sides. He wrapped it around a kunai and whipped it at the base of the rock formation as the steel ox barreled through it with his lance.

"No escape!" the assassin shouted, stepping on the knife dug into the ground. He looked down and jumped just before the tag swallowed him in blinding fire, although he failed to protect himself in the air. Kakashi grabbed him by the ankles and turned him upside down. He wrapped his arms around the assassin's legs and spun, driving him headfirst into the dirt. The Shinobi landed on his feet and darted to Tatsumi's location, although it seemed like most of the fighting had ended. The workshop had been opened, and the smell of hundreds of rotting corpses paled in comparison to the sight, the blood, the gore, the torture. He wasn't fazed, but the sight and smell, after seeing enough of it, disturbed him that it was no longer disturbing. Aria laid dead on the ground, blue eyes stricken with fear as her life came to an end. Tatsumi rested on one knee clutching the left side of his chest, while the raven-haired assassin watched him next to a very familiar blonde.

"Tatsumi!" Kakashi shouted, turning the attention of the two assassins in front of his acquaintance.

The blonde turned around, smiling widely at the young man running her way. She looked different than before, with longer, wavier hair, a pair of cat-like ears, and sharp claws instead of squared nails. "Oh, hey you!" Leone said, her partner now turning to face him. He noticed her sword lacked any fresh blood but Tatsumi's did. Tatsumi fell onto his hands, his arms shaking from his body trying to kill a potent toxin.

Kakashi rushed past the assassins to Tatsumi's side, feeling his neck and forehead. "Fast heart rate, hyperventilation, fever and yellowing of the eyes," he said, "that drug in the drink was meant to kill him."

Tatsumi coughed up a mouthful of blood onto the mud. "Aria killed my friends," he said bitterly and hoarse, and now she's paid for it. Akame found the antidote in Aria's blouse, I just have to wait for it to kick in. I'll be fine."

Kakashi turned to Leone and Akame. "He'll still need water if he's going to make it through the night."

"We have plenty in the compound," Akame said, turning from the two visitors with Leone following suit. "Come."

Kakashi helped stand Tatsumi on his feet. "Where and why?"

"Bulat's still stuck in the mud and Tatsumi over here just offed a chunk of the bureaucracy," Akame said. "I think our boss would like to have a word with Tatsumi, and you especially."

Kakashi scowled. "We're not going to join your assassin group."

"You don't have to join," Leone said, "but we have water for Tatsumi and we have bedrooms where people aren't trying to kill you." The sound of horses galloping toward their location made time of the essence. "Your choice, either rot in jail or come with us, for Tatsumi's sake."

Kakashi felt Tatsumi's body go slack as he passed out on his shoulder. He turned back toward the house, watching Bulat slowly walk toward him with the lance, his helmet still caked with mud. "Guys, we better get going or else we're gonna have to start thinking about break-out plans."

"Damn it," Kakashi cursed under his breath, although if they're actively fighting the government, this could prove a good situation for intel.

"Good!" Leone said, wrapping her arm around Kakashi's neck and hugging him from the side. "I think we're going to make good friends, all of us."

Leone and Akame leapt onto the rooftops as more soldiers surrounded the house and leapt again overhead and into the forests. Kakashi reluctantly followed them with Tatsumi on his shoulder as the rest of the assassin group formed ranks in front of him. Kakashi glanced back, seeing the pools of blood around the house that they had left and looked again, seeing the dark, dense foliage of the trees. "The Third's not going to like this."


	2. Kill the Merchant

Kakashi stood over a silent, mourning Tatsumi on the silent, calm day in the grass on the plateau Night Raid's hideout was carved in. He looked out over the cliffside, seeing the crystal clear ocean under the sun just a mile or so away in a small opening between the mountains hiding the forests. Across the waters, he hoped, if he looked hard enough, he could see home. At least he got to go home at the end of all of this with his friends waiting for him. Tatsumi's friends would not. Tatsumi set down two flowers for his comrades found mutilated and burnt inside the workshop, twisted and ravaged in proportions that stained his mind and would forever. Kakashi recognized the gaunt look in his eyes too well. It was past the point of talking to him for reconciliation. The only solution was vengeance, but even then, the pain would never go away. "Sayo, Ieyasu," Tatsumi said loudly, as if hoping to contact them. "My friends, your deaths will not be in vain. I'm going to save our village for all of us."

The Shinobi looked down, seeing Leone's arms around his chest and her buxom chest squished against his upper back. "That's the spirit, Tatsumi!" she exclaimed. "Good morning, Kakashi. Have you decided whether you'll join us yet?"

Leone let him go and turned him around. "Yes," he said, "I can't wait to work with you in slowly taking this Empire down."

Leone laughed and hugged him around the neck, pushing his head into her breasts. "That's the spirit! What about you, Tatsumi?"

Kakashi turned toward the solemn country warrior, waiting to hear his answer. Tatsumi's type wasn't cut out for this, from what the ninja had seen after countless missions. "I don't know," he said, standing up and facing them. "I'm still unsure about the killing. What happened last night was in the heat of the moment, but to just… end someone's life without thinking about it, I don't think-"

"Well come with me, I'll introduce you to the others!" Leone said, grabbing Tatsumi's hand and half dragging him down the hilly path leading to the front of the discrete compound, looking like a small piece of a Medieval fortress was jutting from the rocks. Akame watched them silently from the top window and slowly faded back into the building. They approached a slab of flat rock slightly out of place with the rest of the stone. Leone let go of the boys and walked through the rock.

Tatsumi followed her through the illusion with Kakashi behind them, checking for anyone watching their entrance. They walked down a cold, dark stone path that supposedly led to a dead end, but they knew the way. Leone reached the end of the corridor and looked up, knocking around the top of the rock until she hit a hollow piece.

"I always forget where that is," she grumbled, loudly knocking on it five times. Light pierced a circular path above Leone and Akame's hand pulled her and the boys into the compound through a small trap door. They stood in the center of a dining hall with a long mahogany table, a fireplace at one end and a captain's chair at the other with their banner, a red eagle with yellow eyes clutching a dead snake with the government insignia on its head in its claws turned to the side, draped over the wall between two warm lamplights. The candlelight chandelier above them provided an even classier ambiance. For assassins, they were living well.

"Morning, Akame," Kakashi said to the swordsman wearing a pink apron and cooking gloves with her hair tied back.

"Hello," she said with a small smile, "the others should be coming shortly. I'll need help setting the table."

"I'll be in there soon," Kakashi said, giving her a reassuring smile before turning back to Leone. She sat at the table next to another woman with long, straight purple hair and lavender eyes wearing a light purple dress with a cutout in the chest to display her natural bust. She was curvy like Leone, but seemed a bit more aloof from her blank, almost childish facial expression as she read her book, "100 Ways to Not be an Airhead." He walked up to her and she looked up from her book, examining the latest assassin with little thoroughness. "You must be the latest recruits. My name is Sheele."

"It's a pleasure," Kakashi said, staying cordial in his words.

"I'm still unsure about joining," Tatsumi said, "but I have likewise feelings."

Sheele looked at Tatsumi puzzled. "You know we'll have to kill you if you say no, right?"

Tatsumi's face completely turned around as did his resolve to not get involved. "Well, if you put it that way…"

"What are they doing in the compound, Leone?" a woman's shrill voice asked. The company in the dining hall looked toward the doors leading deeper into the compound and the kitchen, watching a cute and petite young woman with long, pink hair in two pigtails and pink eyes wearing a pink dress and boots stomp into the dining hall. She huffed up to Tatsumi, looking him up and down and grabbing at his hair.

"Mine, they get to be here so we call tell the boss about their decision!" Leone said.

"Hey!" Tatsumi exclaimed, stepping back and attempting to slap her hand away. "What are you-"

"You fail, your hair and face are too soft," she said, quickly walking over to Kakashi and attempting to grab his mask. She couldn't slip out of this grip so easily.

"Don't do that," Kakashi said. He opened his fist and she yanked her arm back.

.

"You definitely fail." Mine turned away from them with her hands on her hips. "Leone, when they die it's going to be your fault."

Leone ignored Mine's stream of insults, as did Kakashi. Tatsumi looked ready to flip the table. "Don't take it personal. Mine's actually pretty nice when you get to know her."

Mine turned back around, staring daggers at her teammate. " _Actually_ pretty nice?"

"Mine, you can take Tatsumi to meet the boss, I'll take Kakashi to meet Bulat and Lubbock," Leone said, winking at the Shinobi and taking him down a short corridor that opened up into a grassy backyard area. A muscular mountain at roughly seven feet tall with a black pompadour swung around a long staff that was as thick as a street lamp with little to no effort, sending large gusts of wind in every direction he attacked. He let out a loud battle cry and hit the ground, digging his staff in several feet. He sighed and turned around, smiling at Kakashi.

"That's Bulat," Leone said. Kakashi and Bulat shook hands.

"You know, you're partly the reason I'm out here," Bulat said, "you took me completely off guard."

"He's gay," Leone continued. Bulat blushed and fanned his face.

Kakashi didn't care. "So? He's swinging around a 50 pound pole in my general direction, that's what I'm the most concerned about."

Leone and Bulat laughed. "Good response," Bulat said. "Kakashi, right? Welcome to the team. Leone, Lubbock's waiting for you to take your bath in the hot springs." He chuckled. "Surprise him."

"Leave that to me," Leone said, "Kakashi, follow me."

They left the compound, briefly walking down a forest path leading into a clearing overlooking a circle of hot spring geysers. A slim man of average height with shoulder-length straight hair, green hair and eyes waited with a pair of binoculars. "Come on, Leone, let us see the goods," he chuckled deviously, seeing just a pair of golden eyes in the device. He yelped and scurried back but wasn't fast enough. A swift kick to the chest flattened him, but he didn't look defeated.

"This idiot's Lubbock," Leone said bluntly. "The boss should be back at the base by now, so let's get going."

Lubbock smiled at the Shinobi. "Hey man, you're Kakashi, right? The new guy? Don't do what I did just now, unless you have a thing for pain."

"Thanks for the warning," the Shinobi said, following him and Leone back into the dining hall where a tall, curvy woman in a black suit with an eyepatch and one bright purple eye, a green metallic arm, and short, white hair and pale skin sat in the chair just under the banner. All the women here were attractive, Kakashi thought, but she had a major intimidation factor. All of Night Raid waited in the room as the boss talked to Tatsumi and of the consequences if he chose not to stay.

"The people suffer because the government is venal and self serving, and you're afraid of the morals behind backing a revolutionary army aimed at making sure everyone can live happily on their own lands?" she said with an authoritative tone. Revolutionary army, Kakashi stored that little tidbit of info for his letter to the Hokage. "In any case, you won't be killed, but I'm asking you to consider which option would give you a higher quality of life."

"Boss, meet Kakashi, the other recruit," Lubbock said, pointing to the ninja awkwardly. The boss looked away from the contemplative Tatsumi.

"I'm so glad you chose to work with us," she said, "my name is Najenda, but you will call me 'ma'am' or 'boss' until I say otherwise, is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am," Kakashi said dryly, he'd dealt with this before.

"What is your reason for joining Night Raid?" she asked with a small smirk. He noticed she wasn't looking him in the eyes, rather directly at the eye covered by the mask. "We all have one, and 'job security' isn't a valid answer."

Kakashi had multiple excuses handy. "The Empire's forces are threatening my village. I was going to join the Imperial army and rise through the ranks to influence the Emperor to halt his attacks, but then I found you and figured ending the lives of corruption directly is more efficient."

Najenda smiled with confidence. "Not too different from Tatsumi's story, maybe after hearing that, Tatsumi will join our ultimate mission of toppling this Empire and ending the monarchy's life." More information going in the letter. "Well, Tatsumi, what do you think?"

"So what you're saying is," Tatsumi said, standing next to Kakashi in the circle of assassins. "You kill for truth, honor, and justice!"

The room erupted in heinous laughter, suddenly Tatsumi felt very small.

Kakashi rolled his eyes, leaning up against a wall pillar with his arms crossed.

"This is murder, murder has no moral guidance," Najenda said, "but your enthusiasm is well placed, for someone your age, bouncing back after getting poisoned like that is surprising enough this early in the morning. As members of Night Raid, our ultimate goal is to open the gates for revolution and to take back the country for the people. They are starving, their children dying as grunts on the front line so the bureaucracy's children can stay safe, and with the war declared upon the Land of Fire, this may be our prime opportunity to strike." Kakashi paid extra attention now. "With two new members in our midst, I would like to stress just how important teamwork is and will be. Therefore, you will train every day with each of your six brother and sister assassins for two hours, as for missions they undertake, you will go along with them if they think you're ready."

Tatsumi did the math in his head, and he wasn't very happy. "That's twelve hours of training a day!"

Mine scoffed. "Lubbock, he can do math, I guess he doesn't need to train with you."

"Please, as if _shopping_ doesn't involve racking up price tags until you figure out you can't pay for it," he snapped back.

"I'm not going to be lectured on clothes shopping by a man who wears the same green hoodie every day."

"Enough," Najenda said, silencing them immediately. "Tatsumi, you'll be with Akame for your first session on sword fighting, beginning now."

Akame nodded, gripping Tatsumi's shoulder with unprecedented strength. "If you're too much of a hassle, I will kill you."

Tatsumi grinned like a champion already. "I'm the best sword fighter in all my village. You won't even need to train me in that."

The rest of the team gasped. Akame was silent for a moment. "To the training post," she said quickly, pushing him along.

Najenda turned again toward Kakashi. "Head to the training post with Bulat, he'll teach you hand to hand combat that the best Imperial soldiers won't be able to counter. Our recruits generally find his training to be the hardest, so pay _close_ attention."

"Yikes," Leone cringed, "Bulat _first_? Boss, are you sure?"

Najenda gave a knowing smirk to Kakashi and the ninja picked up on it. He gave her a coy smile, although it dawned on him that under his mask they all looked the same. Kakashi and Bulat looked at each other, with Bulat sending a wink his way before walking to the training post.

"Excuse me, boss," Kakashi said, "I'm just curious- what do we know about the Land of Fire? Do they know what they're up against?"

Najenda smirked. "We know absolutely nothing, not of the people, not of their military capabilities, nothing," she said, "from Leone's recent intel excursions, they're relying on their top general to take the entire country within one year."

 _All_ of it? Kakashi decided this general must be extremely powerful, or their leadership extremely stupid, if they're blindly sending ships across the ocean. "That sounds unlikely, blundering into enemy territory usually involves a lot of luck and wishful thinking."

"General Esdeath feels like she doesn't need it, just hope that you're not around when she decides to prove it. Meeting adjourned," Najenda said, standing up from her chair and stretching her legs. "Wish them luck, at least Kakashi knows when not to talk." She walked toward the trap exit. "Leone, supervise the training. Make sure it doesn't get too far."

Leone smiled, walking toward the corridor connecting to the training post. "You can count on me. Sheele, wanna watch the new bloods get whipped?"

Mine shrugged. "They're going to die."

Lubbock yawned. "I guess I'll go back to my 'research.'"

"Sure, I'll watch," Sheele said, standing from the table and hitting her knee on the table. She yelped in pain and leaped back, tripping over the chair. She blushed and looked up at her understanding comrade. "I'll be there in a minute."

"I'll save you a seat," she said, walking onto the porch of the training yard, a freshly cut grass field made wide enclosure under the cliffside with several rows of thick evergreens creating obstacles the farther they went into the grounds. Kakashi recognized the firing targets and training dummies standard in any practice grounds, but all of them had pictures of a grimy, sweaty old man with pebbly eyes, a fat nose, and a wide mouth on his fat head with scrawly gray hair in a scraggly beard all sitting upon a tree trunk neck and a round, pumpin of a body. Bulat and Akame led their pupils to opposite sides of the field and started their lesson.

"Who is that?" Tatsumi asked, pointing at the slug of a man on the training dummies.

" _It_ is the Prime Minister, Honest," Bulat said, reaching for his polearm leaning against the railing to the porch. "As soon as he got promoted, things went to shit. Given the opportunity, I'd crush his head under this pole." He spun it over his head, landing into a wide stance with the pole facing his pupil. He stuck it into the ground and took off his black shirt, revealing an Olympian physique that would make Guy's face turn the color of the rest of his suit. Akame and Tatsumi were off to the side, clashing wooden swords and practicing how to block. "Take it easy on him, Akame!"

Tatsumi ducked a slash and moved in for a thrust, but she expertly parried it and drew her blade across his neck. "You lose," she said stoically. Tatsumi hopped back and growled with anger.

"Let's go again!" he exclaimed, drawing his sword to his side. "You won't get rid of me that easy!"

"But your enemies will!" Leone exclaimed from her lawn chair, watching with Sheele. "Bulat, don't kill this one, please?"

Bulat laughed and turned back to the Shinobi, putting his fists up. "Hey, Kakashi," he said, stepping forward, "your first lesson will be a bit of a diagnostics test, just to see where I can place you. It's obvious you and Tatsumi have some prior knowledge, but don't let it go to your head."

Kakashi drew his right hand up to the center of his chest and pushed it outward, taking a deep breath. Bulat didn't recognize that stance at all. "I would never underestimate you," he said, "after our last bout, I woke up this morning and had to check if my head was still on my shoulders."

"Charismatic. It'll get you far." Bulat shuffled to the center of their side of the training yard, with Kakashi standing in the middle of a cluster of trees. "I used to be the Imperial Army's master of combat, weapons master, and the quartermaster," he said, "unfortunately, many of the people you'll kill working for the puppet Empire could've been my students and former colleagues." His smile went away for a moment and his stance loosened.

Kakashi empathized, but still retained his stance. He knew how that felt to the point he had to leave home to leave that behind.

Stern determination replaced Bulat's solemn expression. "But with me training you, you'll know exactly how to take them down! Now, come at me! Don't hold back!"

Kakashi waited a moment to charge, letting the wind blow a few leaves off the trees. He knew better than to charge as some leaves fell down on his shoulders and he looked up, seeing a flash of gold in the trees. His eyes widened and he looked forward, seeing Bulat rush toward him with his polearm in hand and a long, black Claymore strapped to his back. Kakashi jumped over the polearm's sweep and landed on the tip, crouching on its toes at the end. "Lesson one, never trust your opponent?" Kakashi asked, flipping back with surprising agility and bouncing between the trees. He scaled one of the evergreens and held onto one branch, looking down to see the polearm sailing toward him. He leaned back just in time for the weapon to clip his chin, knocking him higher into the air. "Ouch!" He rubbed his chin and figured it would have fractured it if he hadn't moved fast enough.

"You might have seen Leone and it's good that you already have that suspicion," Bulat said, "but in doing so, you took your eye off of me! That's the lesson, never take your eye off your opponent!" Kakashi flipped back again, landing on a thick branch and throwing a kick back at the dextrous master that prepared to take him down from behind. Bulat blocked the kick with one arm and caught the punch with the other, pushing him to the edge of the branch. Bulat stepped forward, taking the brute force of Kakashi's attacks as if they belonged to a child. "You hit pretty hard, but it's useless if you don't land anything!"

Kakashi chuckled. "I'd make sure there is something to land on first," he said, kicking the branch and spinning toward the other tree. Bulat looked down, seeing a chunk of wood ripped out from where Kakashi originally landed. He gasped as it snapped and grabbed the polearm, forming a triangle between it and the trunk.

"Nice one, but you've forgotten your own rule," Bulat chuckled.

He jumped across the trees and Leone shot from the foliage from the opposite evergreen with blinding speed in a lunge. Kakashi whipped around, cutting her airtime short with a heel kick blocked by arm guard. She smirked and darted forward. "Gotcha now!" she proclaimed, but the ninja slipped out from underneath and Leone's momentum propelled her into Bulat. Kakashi ran down the tree while his training partners looked down, amazed and a little angry.

"Or maybe you have a better eye for these things than you let on," Bulat said. He nodded to Leone and the two assassins dropped on either side of the determined Shinobi. Kakashi took his original stance and this time charged Bulat. He ducked a sweeping backhand strike and stepped into Bulat's shin to stunt the man of stone. He rolled between his legs and lunged upward, pelting the man's kidneys and lumbar with punches, elbow strikes, palm strikes, and precise finger jabs.

"Good work on the speed, but don't forget who you're dealing with!" Bulat said. He whipped around, catching Kakashi's face in his hand and literally throwing him into Leone.

Leone cocked her fist back at the sailing Shinobi. "Sorry about this!"

Kakashi caught her punch and rolled off her arm, sweeping her off her feet with a kick and coming down on her stomach with an elbow strike. "No offense taken."

Leone laughed but also winced in pain at the second strike. "I'm going to kill you for that pun," she said, catching a punch and rolling Kakashi into an armbar in the grass. Bulat leaped into the air again with his heel high, ready to bring it down between the recruit's legs.

"I feel like when I die, those are going to be the last words I'm going to hear," Kakashi said, pulling himself onto Leone and rolling out of the way as the explosive heel kick landed, splashing dirt and grass everywhere. Kakashi spun to his feet and tagged Bulat in the face with a kick of his own, creating a resonating impact that made the compound hold its breath.

Bulat stumbled back and Leone hopped to her feet, standing by Bulat's side to continue the training. Kakashi's face turned red at the grimacing Bulat, feeling his bruised cheek with great shock. Akame and Tatsumi watched in fear as well, hoping Kakashi would live in the next minute. Sheele watched closely as well, waiting for Bulat's response to the blow in anticipation. No one had ever hit his face before during the first day of training. Bulat stood up to his full height, looming over the young Shinobi and his face was shadowed by the sun. He smiled brightly. "Lucky shot!" he said, falling into stance again. "Don't rely on those in the field," he winked, "or else you'll be subdued! Leone, are you ready?"

Leone stared at the Shinobi hungrily and Kakashi watched as black claws curled off her fingers. Bulat changed as well, this time gripping the hilt of his sword. His hand shot into his thigh pouch and pulled out two kunai, spinning them by their looped handles on his fingers. He took one in each hand and bent into a far more guarded stance. "You wouldn't tell me where you were from," Leone said, "at the restaurant back in the Capitol."

Kakashi had to divert that topic. "And you wouldn't come back after leaving me to take care of the bill."

Tatsumi laughed from across the field but got smacked across the face by a wooden stick for not paying attention. However, Akame herself kept an eye on the other recruit. He was good, far too good for a country boy trying to hit it big in the city.

"Where he's from isn't important," Bulat said, "I have 90 minutes to teach him how to fight like he's from here, because as of now-" He drew his blade and charged, swinging down and slicing a foot deep hole into the ground. "-I'm not impressed!"

Kakashi braced himself by scraping the kunai together, engaging in another hour and a half of full-on sparring against an increasingly difficult set of opponents. Bulat seemed to grow more and more durable, and by the hour's end he stopped landing hits on Leone entirely. Their last match was cut short by Akame, throwing Tatsumi into the fray and pulling Kakashi toward the other side of the field with Leone following them. Sheele took her place with Bulat, wielding a man-sized pair of glowing cleaving scissors that nearly took off Tatsumi's head more than once. "What are we doing?" Kakashi asked. "Weapons training?"

Akame led him up a small, hidden path into the forest while Leone stayed behind to watch the others. They broke into a clearing on a cliff, this one overlooking a freshwater lake. She carefully placed her sheathed, steel blade on the ground and loosened her red tie on her black button-up vest. "Take your clothes off," she said bluntly.

Kakashi's eyes widened and he took a small step toward her, maybe he didn't hear correctly. "Excuse me?"

She turned to him quickly and stared him in the eyes, slowly unbuttoning her vest. She threw it to the ground, revealing the white bikini underneath and athletic, slim figure with a considerable bust. "Take. Your. Clothes. Off." She turned back around and took off her short black skirt. "We're going fishing."

The Shinobi sighed in relief. "I apologize, I didn't hear you the first time."

Akame turned to him with a small frown, backing up toward the edge. "Yes you did," she said with the smallest hint of irritation. "This is to teach you a lesson in patience when in pursuit of your opponent. You may find fishing this way to be harder than letting them come to you." She folded her arms impatiently. "And why are your clothes still on?"

Kakashi looked down and blushed. "Oh, right." He disrobed down to his facemask and underwear, wrapping any valuables on him in his pants.

Akame looked up, using his usage of a mask as an excuse to stare at his tight abs and chest. He had a lean, athletic build and multiple faded scars across his chest and stomach, pronounced biceps and broad shoulders that lined his body in a tight "V" that was completely hidden by his clothing. "Take that mask off too, you can keep the under-" She dived as he jumped into the water, but she didn't feel or hear the impact of the splash. She could have sworn he landed on top of it as if it was covered by glass. She surfaced again with two fish in each hand. "I told you to take off the mask, I'm sure there's nothing bad looking underneath."

Kakashi chuckled. "Well, thank you for that, but-"

" _Now_ ," Akame stressed, making the Shinobi sigh.

Kakashi slowly stretched the fabric from his face and lifted it over his head. The femme fatale watched closely in anticipation, wondering what secrets hide underneath. Her jaw slowly dropped at the realization. "It's out, I guess."

"Another mask?!" she exclaimed, seeing a copy of the mask he had on and the original in his hand. She tossed the fish she caught onto the grass and pointed into the water, moving on with the lesson. "There are three types of fish in this lake, one with gray scales and blue eyes, and another with gray scales and red eyes. Your target is the fish that is neither. I will be collecting dinner, and in an hour, you will help me cook it, okay?"

"Count that fish caught," Kakashi said.

"Arrogance will only lead to your downfall, be warned," Akame said, "or you're just hungry, but that's not the point." She let her long, black hair fan out on the surface of the calm waves as she slowly descended into the water.

Kakashi dived deep into the blue lake, calmly following the frantic fishes trying to run away from him in a glorified bowl. He rose again for a final time when she called him back, thanking god he kept his mask on to cover the nosebleed. He wasn't a pervert, he thought, despite the literature he read, but she was a bombshell. "There was no 'third fish,'" Kakashi said, tossing several medium to large fish onto the shores. "And if there was, one of the other two ate it."

Akame's lips curled upward in a cute grin. "Why would I send you looking for a fish that isn't there?"

The ninja wasn't new to this. "To teach me a lesson," he said, "everyone has a dark side."

Akame piled the fish into four baskets hooked onto a long, wooden rod and capped them. Kakashi hefted the rods onto his shoulders and stood up. Akame wouldn't let him see it, but she took in the glory of watching everything flex with little effort but with impressive results. "Any one of those fish could end up on our chopping block, any person out there could be on our hit list, so we give them the benefit of the doubt."

Kakashi followed her back up the hill to the cliff. "While retaining the resolve to end their lives once they sort themselves out." Akame redressed herself but took Kakashi's outfit too.

"I left the Imperial army's special forces unit with Najenda and Bulat when I was younger, then I thought there was a binary in the duties we fulfill, but quickly did I learn how blurry that line really is," Akame said, carefully picking up her sword once again. "When the time comes, you will be expected to kill anyone and anything that stands in your path. Can you handle that?" They returned to the training grounds, finding a battered but not broken Tatsumi still standing against Bulat while Leone watched and Sheele had disappeared into the compound. Tatsumi seemed built as well, but Kakashi's upper body indicated an intense regimen that took years to develop.

"I will do what I must," Kakashi said with determination.

"Even if it was me?" Akame asked, turning to him and drawing her sword, pointing it at the tip of his nose. "Think carefully about your answer."

Kakashi couldn't quite place it, but he could have sworn the smell of wax paper and gunpowder lingered in the area. "I would make it painless," he assured her, "and expect you to do the same for me."

Akame and Kakashi looked each other in the eyes for a moment, forming an unspoken promise between them. She sheathed her blade once again. "Good. Come with me. We're having fish for dinner, in case you didn't know."

Kakashi continued behind her. "As if the overwhelming stench wasn't a big enough reminder," he said, reaching the porch. "And can I get my clothes back?"

"No way," Leone said playfully, "hey Akame, what happened to Kakashi? Where did you find this guy?"

"Can I at least get my pants?" the Shinobi said, admitting defeat. It happened after puberty had passed and from hanging out with Guy for this long. Fighting for your life every day as your job required peak physical condition.

"He smells like fish," Akame said quietly, giggling to herself.

"No!" Bulat exclaimed from the field.

"Yes!" Tatsumi vouched for his friend's request.

"No," Sheele said, walking back out from the inside of the compound with a small slip of paper and a bag of gold. "Bulat! We have an assignment!"

Bulat held back a punch that might have flattened the boy he was training and instead patted him on the shoulder. "Go get some food, you can't be a good fighter on an empty stomach."

"Thanks bro," Tatsumi said between heavy breaths. "Same time tomorrow?"

"You know it," Bulat chuckled, "keep up that enthusiasm!"

The assassins returned inside, Bulat and Sheele leaving through the trap hatch in the front immediately afterwards. Akame and Kakashi reserved themselves to the small but stocked kitchen while Tatsumi and Leone went about their business until they smelled the cooking fish. The two fully clothed assassin cooks set the table, Akame setting a plate aside at the head of the table for a sweaty Najenda back from a job herself. Leone and Tatsumi waited for Kakashi and Akame to sit down before eating. "Where are Mine and Lubbock?" Tatsumi asked.

"Out on a mission," Najenda said, "which reminds me, Leone, you confirmed your targets, yes?"

Leone's usual playful expression went away, telling Kakashi the gravity of the situation at hand. "First, my target, Gamal the Merchant," she said, "he doubles as a tax deliverer and coast informant. He has knowledge regarding the war against the Land of Fire, but the reason we were hired to kill him is to avenge our client's family." Leone scowled and looked away, hating this part of the story the most. "Gamal had them slaughtered by Imperial soldier working for our next target, Ogre. He took the place of Bulat's direct underling and now serves as the weapon master of their army. We have until midnight to complete the job, 5500 gold is up for grabs, and I'm in the mood for some homicide. Kakashi, you'll come with me to take out the merchant."

"Then Akame and Tatsumi can defeat Ogre," Najenda said.

"Shouldn't we wait for the others to come back?" Akame asked.

"No way, not as long as people are getting killed," Tatsumi said, "I'll kill him myself if needed."

Najenda didn't find his arrogance humorous. "Tatsumi will defeat Ogre, stand by your words."

Tatsumi grinned widely. "If that's what it takes to prove myself to you, then I won't come back until he's dead."

"Akame, you will accompany him to supervise his first job," Najenda said, "do not intervene unless absolutely necessary. Good luck."

"Yes, boss!" the four assassins said, leaving for the Capitol once again. They stopped at a fountain in the center of a small but busy shopping center. "They leave from the barracks across Main Street together at five, so in three minutes that door will swing open and they'll go their separate ways," Leone said. "Akame, keep Tatsumi safe, will you?"

Akame nodded and pulled Tatsumi into a vein of the passing crowd. "That's our cue," Kakashi said. "Let's do this."

She and Kakashi slipped into the crowd crossing the street and splitting up on either side of the block, coming together as the double doors protecting their targets from the inevitable swung open. Ogre came out first, an eight foot tall boulder built like Bulat, covered head to toe in gray steel plated armor and missing one eye, instead having a smooth, pink scab over it. Behind him was a stout, round, frog-like man with beady eyes and wearing an orange kimono that only covered one half of his chest. Leone bumped into Ogre seemingly on accident, but Kakashi was watching fairly closely. Upon impact she lightly scratched an "X" into the back of his chestplate. Ogre laughed and flirted with the hot blonde for a moment before passing. Gamal moved in the opposite direction, passing by the Shinobi and spitting at his feet. " _Kuso!_ Outta my way!" he snapped, pushing past Kakashi and waddling on his way. Leone watched the toad man walk at his pace.

"We're going to be at this for awhile," Leone said, but her hopes changed as he stopped and flagged down a cart to take him home. "Or maybe not, what fortune!" She turned to the ANBU operative. "You'll need something to hide the rest of your face, maybe that mask you always keep in your thigh pouch?"

"My what?" Kakashi said, once again hoping he was hearing things correctly. They followed the vehicle from the rooftops as nightfall shrouded them in darkness.

Leone winked at him. "It fell out when Akame handed me your clothes."

Kakashi felt that wasn't it. They approached the gates to an old mansion with three stories and guards posted along the entrance. One in particular caught his eye, a young woman with brown hair, brown eyes and standing next to a white dog with brown ears glowing with energy. They looked innocent, but something about them radiated caution. "It's a symbol of my village. A good luck token."

"Aww, how sweet," Leone said, scaling a tree to take a look. "Having a wolf as your guiding animal is pretty cool, although I am more of a cat person, dogs can be pretty cute too. Put it on!"

Kakashi put on the ANBU mask and turned to Leone crouched on the tree brance. "Well?" They scaled the tree and leapt across the gate, landing in the shrubbery and silently darting toward the house. Leone watched Gamal's silhouette pass on the second floor.

"Ooh, so mysterious," Leone said, "but can it get the job done?"

Kakashi scoffed and ran straight up the wall, silently opening the window and allowing Leone to leap through. "What?" Gamal said, seeing the masked ANBU agent glaring at him with a lifeless stare through the mask. "How'd you get past the guards? What do you want, cash, pussy, power-" Before Leone could even land, Gamal had three Shuriken in his head, one in each eye and one down his throat. Kakashi took them out and stepped back, looking over the kill as blood slowly oozed onto the floor.

"Impressive," Leone said, "I thought you said you've never done this before."

Kakashi shrugged. "Beginner's luck, let's get out of here."

Leone walked back toward the window. "That's bullshit and you know it." She looked out the window and a hunted expression slapped her in the face. Kakashi joined her at the window, gaining the same expression at the woman guard and her dog hailing down the other guards by the window. "Out the other window?"

"Great idea," Kakashi said worriedly, racing down the hallway and quietly opening the window. They crawled out of the mansion and climbed down by sliding down the gutter shaft into the bushes, but upon touching the ground the dog barked and the duo was surrounded in moments.

"Your turn," Leone said, Kakashi noticed her appearance become more feline again, with longer, wilder hair, golden cat ears and long black claws on her hands and feet. That's why she always wore sandals, he thought. "But personally, I'm not against showing these people a good time."

Kakashi pulled out a single kunai this time. "I like your style, although it could get messy."

The brunette dog owner with a crazed look on her pretty face cackled, pointing at the two assassins. "I recognize that Teigu anywhere," she said, her voice piercing and fierce. "Lionelle, the Golden Claw?" She laughed giddily and grinned with her dog, her smile nearly taking the razor sharp form of her canine companion. "You have no idea how long I've waited just to meet you, let alone kill you!"

Kakashi slowly pulled at his facemask, uncovering both eyes under the ANBU mask. "You do see there are two of us, yes?"

"There are ten of us right now with another 40 coming in less than five minutes, what's your point?" she said.

"Well, not to put it lightly," Kakashi said, tying a white and red tag to the kunai and whipping it into the air, "but this isn't a fair fight." Kakashi formed a single hand sign and slammed his fist into the ground. "Earth Release: Earth Wave Technique," he said under his mask quietly so that only Leone could hear. He took Leone by the hand and jumped twenty feet as the result of whatever he did was supposed to take effect.

"What did you do?" Leone asked.

"You have super speed," Kakashi said, "I have this." The woman and her underlings laughed for a moment, but it ended with the burst of mud that followed all around them. She hopped to her feet and her mood definitely changed.

Leone gasped. "Wait, what the hell?"

"Koro! Bulk up!" the leader of the dazed military squad ordered, and the dog followed perfectly, growing ten times the size and his white fur turning gray. Their opponent laughed. "You fool! Anything you throw at it, it can take!"

Kakashi caught the kunai and tore the tag off as it started to glow. He flipped back onto the rooftops and handed it to Leone as the dog-owner combo jumped onto the roof as well. "Tag whoever comes first, we have to go through them."

"I agree with that last part, but what is this?" she asked, charging them as a single golden streak with Kakashi already lagging behind. He was fast, but she was supernatural. He rolled between the beast's legs and saw the tag slapped onto its back. Leone added a few minor wounds, but they healed as soon as they were opened. Kakashi and the owner clashed in furious hand to hand combat, and although the woman was good, ninjitsu took this brief bout. Kakashi clocked her in the chin with a palm strike and locked her arm. He threw her over his shoulder at the dog and raced toward the edge of the mansion. "We have four seconds!" he warned, but the Lioness was already ahead of him.

"Four seconds to what-"

Kakashi lunged to the side, catching her around the waist as Koro barreled toward them with his mouth wide open in a chomp that would have swallowed Leone whole. Kakashi covered her eyes as the tag on its back burst into a white flash brighter than any sun. Anyone unfortunate to have their eyes open during that time sorely regretted it. Kakashi landed in the trees just over the gate and set Leone down, hearing the frustrated screams of the elite guard from Gamal's property. "Are you alright?" he asked, storing his mask in his thigh pouch. Leone looked up and noticed his red eye through the silver hair he used to cover it, specifically the three black tomoe slowly spinning within the redness around the black pupil. It was strange but she wouldn't say anything now, not with the guards preparing to sweep the area.

"Never better," Leone said with a blushing smile, "don't let it get to your head." She stood up and turned around to look at the devastation. "Not bad, not bad, you definitely have the element of surprise down pat. What was that final attack? Your Teigu? You made the mud move!"

"I've always been able to do that," he said, technically he wasn't lying. "I had a knack for it since I was a child, my Sensei taught me to focus it into multiple forms. That bright flash was simply a flash bomb tag, I brought some with me from home in case I needed a quick getaway."

Leone laughed as they bounced from tree to tree. "I guess you never knew how literally you'd need it."

Kakashi took out a small roll of them from his pouch. "Cut the side, place the bomb, temporary blindness and it's all silent."

Leone pondered the possibilities with an entire shelf of those back at the compound. "That and my Teigu could be pretty useful."

"What is a Teigu?" Kakashi asked.

"To put it simply," she said, "it's any magical item that selects its user, sometimes they can take the form of a weapon, like Sheele's giant hedge trimmers, or a biological form, like that bitch's dog. Others, like mine, fuse with their user, sometimes changing their appearance even without activating its abilities." Kakashi looked over at his partner, seeing her normal appearance once again. "Pretty hot, right?"

Kakashi blushed. "I was… simply looking to see if there was any change."

Leone laughed and hopped on the same branch as he did, stopping him in his tracks and literally licking his ear. "It's alright. I think you're pretty cute too, playing superhero back there. Don't think I didn't see what you were doing."

Kakashi nearly fainted.

"I marked you," she said with a slight growl, "when I decide to take you, you're mine."

"We just met," the flustered Shinobi said. "I don't think-"

"Let a girl have some fun, okay?" she giggled sultrily. "No need to be so serious, but if you don't want to play-" She leaned into his ear. "Stop staring so much."

Kakashi couldn't wrap his head around it. "What the-"

"We're back," she said, cutting his confusion short, "Tell the boss what happened."

They rushed over the cliffs and down the forest paths and through the compound back doors. Akame and Tatsumi had already returned, Tatsumi beaming with pride and blood splattered across his shirt. Akame seemed proud as well, although her sentiment treated it in a more serious and professional manner. Najenda welcomed Gamal's executioners back.

"I assume he's taken care of?" Najenda said with a triumphant smile. "Our Tatsumi here defeated Ogre entirely on his own."

Kakashi punched Tatsumi in the shoulder. "Good going, Tatsumi! Tell me about it!"

"Well," Tatsumi said, taking a deep breath and regaling the hour long escapade ending in a brutal battle to the death in the dead of night. "But enough about me," Tatsumi said, still shaking from the fight. "How was the merchant?"

The ninja said little. "We got the job done with some minor hiccups, but no one knows what we really look like, although a guard knows Leone's Teigu is on the loose."

"Very good, minimal casualties?" Najenda asked.

The Shinobi knew the damage he caused. "I seriously messed up their front lawn."

Leone rolled her eyes amidst the laughing. "Let me tell it," she said, giving them the drawn out, dramatic and badass Shinobi the man himself kept downplaying. The others were most certainly intrigued to the very end.

"Congratulations to both of you on a job well done, if we had the rest of the team with us, we'd toast to your success," Najenda said.

Tatsumi held up an empty hand shaped as if it was holding a cup. "To Night Raid!"

The rest of the group laughed and raised their "glasses." "To Night Raid!" they exclaimed.

"Meeting adjourned," Najenda said, "get some sleep before your next mission." She crossed the room and opened the exit doors. "You'll never know when that will be."

"Yes boss," the four assassins said in unison as she left.

Tatsumi yawned. "Well in that case," he said, "goodnight everyone. I'm sad I couldn't train with the others today as well."

"Eh, Akame and I are the best anyway," Leone shrugged.

Tatsumi left and the girls turned their attention onto Kakashi. He felt like he needed to say something. "Can I help you?"

"Were you hurt?" Akame asked.

"Well no, I don't think- I mean I'd have to check-"

"Hold him down," she ordered.

"What-"

Leone held him in a half-nelson as Akame took off his tee shirt underneath his flak jacket, looking for any new wounds on his chest and back. She forced his pants off him as well and checked his legs carefully. She put a wandering hand on his boxer briefs.

"Okay that's enough!" Kakashi exclaimed.

"I once had a partner who died from an infection because he was too proud to say he got hurt," she said, moving away from his boxers. Leone let him go and Kakashi redressed for the second time that day. She looked him in the eyes again, forming another unspoken bond. "Just keep coming back alive, okay?"

Despite the way she exhibited it, Kakashi was glad she cared about her teammates more than the mission as well. "Anything you want."

Leone looked at the strapping Shinobi with a smirk. "Tell him to get naked again."

"But not that!" he shouted, to the girls' humor.

"Tomorrow you will train with Sheele first, then Lubbock," Akame said, walking toward the exit corridor with them and walking through a series of long, winding, stone hallways with wooden floors. Akame and Leone stopped at their room just before the staircase leading up into more rooms. "Goodnight, Kakashi."

"Sleep well," Kakashi said, receiving a wink from Leone as she closed her door. Kakashi tiptoed off to his room and closed the door, practically throwing his jacket and pants off into the desk chair on the other side of the room as he collapsed on the bed. He slipped off his facemask and rubbed his smooth chin and cheeks. It felt good to let the skin breathe, he thought, sliding under the covers of his bed in just his tee shirt and boxers. He lit the lantern next to his bed on the bedside table and sat up with his pillow against the wall, repressing his urges to sleep. He yawned but cut himself off. "No, you're not going to be a wuss and fall asleep." He took _Icha Icha_ from the table and cracked it open from where he left off. "I'll just read for a few minutes, find a good stopping point, close it. That's how people read books, right?"

Wrong.

Kakashi only looked away when the door opened on its own, and Leone stood at the edge of his bed. Kakashi didn't sense her come in and quickly covered his face. She smiled at him, slowly closing the door and locking it. Her expression seemed far more dangerous and her eyes starry and dreamy. "Leone, is everything okay?" he asked, setting his book down.

The lioness tapped her chin a few times and tilted her head, dancing about the question. "You could say that," she said, "you see, I have an itch," she said, keeping her devious face as her hands went toward her black tube top. "You scratch skulls with knives so well, I thought you could help me out. It's bothering me a lot and I think you could have the tools I need to fix it."

"You don't look bothered," Kakashi said, feeling like he was being stared at like he was a midnight snack.

Leone giggled again, crossing over to his bedside table and setting his book down. "I'm _very_ bothered, let me show you."

 **I BET Y'ALL CAN GUESS WHAT CHAPTER 3 WILL START OUT WITH**

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	3. Kill the Kitty (Half lemon, half story)

**THE FIRST PART OF THIS CHAPTER IS A LEMON. SCROLL PAST THIS UNTIL YOU REACH "LEMON END" FOR ACTUAL PLOT. FOR THOSE WHO WISH NOT TO SCROLL, ENJOY.**

* * *

The voluptuous lioness slowly swayed her hips toward the footboard and crawled onto the bad with her ass pointed up, taking special time to make sure the Shinobi got a good view of every flawless curve on her tight, athletic body and straddled his lap, leaning forward just before their chests touched. She giggled at the terrified young man and pulled the bed sheets taut so he wouldn't leave. "What's wrong, assassin?" she asked. "Uncomfortable?" She grabbed at the hand covering his mouth, seeing a cute chin and the prominence of cheekbones along with the rest of the scar over his left eye extending almost to his lower jaw. "Damn, you're fucking cute, why hide that to the rest of the world?" Kakashi broke free of her grasp multiple times but she regained it as soon as it was lost. She finally caught both wrists and pinned him down. "The huntress always catches her prey," she whispered, "and you'll make a fine meal." Kakashi felt the full weight of her breasts on his chest and her breath in his ear as she examined his uncovered face, giving his ear another flick of her tongue. A switch seemed to click in the ninja's head, and the wriggling to a more comfortable position in his boxers indicated whatever she was doing worked. "Ooh," she purred, sliding down his body like a snake and stopping as she straddled his thighs, leaning forward on her elbows so the edge of her delectable black tube top curved over the peak of a tall bulge under the white sheets. "Is that your knife, or something far more dangerous, poking me just now?"

"Neither-"

Leone's hand had already ripped the white sheets off the bed and her eyes widened in anticipation at the pulsing tent Kakashi pitched. "What do you want to do to me?" she laughed. "Or what have you been wanting to do?"

Kakashi was more nervous about this than killing a man. "Have a good time, topple the government, maybe read a little, both with you and the rest of the-" He covered his crotch but she slapped it away.

"Just relax and let me see!" Leone exclaimed as she rolled down his boxers, shocked the assassin with eight inches in length and six inches of girth. "We don't allow hidden weapons in the compound, so I'm going to have to cross examine this blade of yours." She looked up at him with a pouty face, sitting up and squishing her round, perky breasts together. "Did these do that? I assure you, they're very sorry." She rolled up the bottom of her top, letting her twins edge out over the bottom of the fabric, stretching the front even more than usual. "You know, when I was younger, I used to work in a massage clinic. I know the human body better than anyone here, meaning I can push every button that makes you tick, using just my hands I've made experienced guys burst in 15 seconds, you want to know how that feels?"

He was uncomfortable with it, but wanted to see more. "I think we need to talk about this, before we go any further, I mean if anyone else was awake they could hear-"

"What a boner," she giggled, holding her breasts just above the red, bulging head of the Shinobi's skin kunai. "Such weapons need to be-" She shot his erect member through the center of her chest and between her glorious chest, letting his head peek out from in between them with a cute pop.

Kakashi gasped at the amazing, plush and squishy pressure, feeling his heartbeat push against the soft, fleshy suffocation that gyrated in opposite directions on either side of him, making it tilt left or right depending on how she moved. He sat up with his hands behind his back as she and the tube top continued to squeeze and pull and roll lazily around the shaft. Every breath she made hit the hypersensitive head, making him tense up thus expanding upon the pleasure her speciality elicited from his mouth.

"Now that I've got you in here," she said with a victorious smile, making two piece signs with her hands as she rapidly squashed and pulled away from his head. "You sure feel _huge_ , and you should feel grateful, I've known guys who would literally kill someone to fuck these kittens."

"That sounds mentally unhealthy," Kakashi retorted in between his soft moans.

Leone laughed. "Are those your last words? You look like you're about to have a heart attack!" She stuck her cute, round tongue out and bent her head down, lightly flicking the tip. Kakashi's hips bucked at the surprise. "You're so sensitive… I wonder what else I can make you do!"

"Hey!" Kakashi exclaimed. "You need to tell me when you're going to- ohhhHHhHh gOOoooOoOod..." Leone continued licking the head while she squeezed up and down, popping the head into her mouth and rolling it around in soft, warm, wet ecstasy while she looked down at her job with her bright, golden eyes while her head slightly bobbed up and down on his staff. She lapped his head once and looked up at him with that devious smile that told Kakashi there was nothing else he could do. "You want me to stop?"

It didn't take long for him to decide. "Hell no."

Leone squeezed her breasts even tighter as a reward. "Then I'm going to jerk you hard, so you better cum like crazy, okay?"

She didn't give him time to respond and spat on her chest, letting the trail of saliva form a lube around his cock that added a slight _shlick_ with every upward tug. Kakashi felt as if he was being tugged forward, the power in each stroke so intense. She combined this with her oral treatment and Kakashi shut his eyes for a moment as a deep, hot churning within him built up throughout his pelvis and at the base of his member.

"Does it feel that good?" Leone chuckled. "You might be extraordinary but _everyone_ loves my tits, isn't that right?" Kakashi's hips bucked again in response, nearly tagging her in the eye. "Kyahahaha! I've never seen you with _that_ expression before. If it feels that good, just cum already."

Her taunting made it even harder to hang on as his shaft bulged, swelling toward the top. Years of elite ninja self discipline couldn't stop what would happen next. "I can't hold it-"

"Do it," she growled, crushing his shaft on both sides with her creamy smooth, wonderful tits and dragging them up while she ran rapid laps around his pulsing head creating a vortex of indescribable joy. She sucked her cheeks inward and sucked up like it was a straw, driving an already crashing Shinobi over the edge.

Kakashi let out a loud groan and locked eyes with Leone, gripping the sides of the bed and curling his toes while he let out burst after burst of hot white satisfaction down her gulping throat. He continued gripping the sides of the bed, his head tilting forward and every muscle tensing as she continued squishing and rolling while she sucked his head like a lollipop while she softly purred at her reward with the corners of her mouth pointing out in a smile. He was out of his league, and at his most sensitive, but she didn't give a damn. She didn't stop until every drop had swirled around in her cheeks and poured down the back of her throat, mercilessly ending his experience with a neat pop. She continued to laugh as he let out a final spurt that went across her face over one eye and into her hair, dripping off the front of her golden locks and eyelashes. Kakashi took a moment to breathe. "Holy shit," he said exasperated, watching her slowly remove him from her chest with a subtle but audible slimy sliding noise. She opened her mouth and stuck out her white tongue, winking at her partner.

"How much were you gonna let out?" she asked. "I thought I was going to drown in all of that!"

"If you had kept going," he said, "you might have taken everything!"

"Oh, trust me," she replied. "I will get everything, especially if you keep cumming so fast. Popping you was a cinch," she giggled, "I've always been proud of my titfucks, but usually the other person's all tuckered out." She lightly tapped Kakashi's hardon, making it wobble from side to side. "You, however, have the endurance I like, I hope."

Footsteps tromping down the hallway turned their faces white. "Is something going on?" Kakashi whispered as Leone slinked over to the side of the bed facing away from the door.

"People probably think you're in trouble," Leone taunted, "with you moaning like a girl and all."

Kakashi scowled, throwing the sheets back onto him while rolling onto his side also away from the door to hide his stiffy. "You're the one who decided to Night Raid me again for the past fifteen minutes, you can't just make a-"

A heavy foot kicked down the door and Tatsumi rushed in, wielding his blade with Lubbock right behind him. "Kakashi, we heard you yelling down the hall, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he said, watching Leone's hand creep up toward the bed. "I just had a nightmare."

"You sounded like you were hurt by something," Lubbock said, "are you sure you're alright?"

Kakashi watched her hand slither under the covers and her palm bumped his head, twisting and rubbing in soft circles with her palm. He clenched his fists and shifted his thighs uncomfortably. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you."

"Well," Tatsumi said, Kakashi's eyes went to the back of his head as Leone silently jerked him toward a second orgasm with her velvety soft hand, mixing in some of his cum with her sweat to create a gooey salve. "Alright. Lubbock, if he says he's okay, then he's okay."

Lubbock shrugged. "Fair enough." Kakashi lurched forward while their backs were turned as she started to rub just at the top, running back and forth over the head rapidly. "G'night, Kakashi."

Leone raised the bed sheet slightly, letting a second stream of cum fly out from underneath and pelt the window. "So thick," she whispered, "it's like you've never masturbated before." The boys left and locked the door from behind. Leone couldn't repress her quiet, honeyed giggle as she moved to the door again, leaving a dually tapped Shinobi defeated in his own room. She reached for the handle but felt a strong grip on her hand. "Oh?" she said, turning around and receiving a wild kiss from her less experienced friend, but it was passionate and yearning, and after making him explode while the other boys were in the room made her horny all over again. She returned the gesture, grabbing him around the waist and squeezing his tight ass as she dominated him again, scratching his shoulders as she edged him toward the bed with her tongue pushing against his in the same direction. "Lie down," she whispered into his ear.

"No," Kakashi defied her, reaching for her scarf and throwing it onto the chair in the corner. He reached behind her back at the zipper for her tube top and carefully unzipped it.

"Ooh, be mindful," she said, leaning onto his shoulder as he flung it off. Her breasts pushed forward a little bit, letting Kakashi marvel at their size, roundness, firmness and perkiness of her cute, pink nipples. "You're going past the point of no-"

Kakashi kissed her again, reaching for her belt and helping her take it off. He continued down her body, exploring her flat, toned stomach and running his hands along her wide hips and bubble butt concealed only by a black thong under baggy, white pants. Finally he removed her thong, welcoming him to her dripping, bald, pink pussy with tight, thin lips and a cute, button-like clit on a slightly puffy vagina. His eyes widened and he stopped for a moment, cautiously running his hands among the inside of her thick thighs. She laughed again in a condescending tone.

"Get onto the bed, you don't know what you're doing, if I wasn't on the pill you probably would have knocked me up prematurely," she said, biting her bottom lip as he reluctantly agreed so she could watch his rippling back muscles flex their way over. "I didn't intend it to get this far, and usually I like more experienced guys who know what they're doing," she said, glancing at his mindless expression and back at his hardon, "but then you had to go and make me wet, are you going to do something about that?"

"I do know multiple Water Releases," Kakashi teased coyly, making her roll her eyes.

Leone straddled his legs while gripping the head. "You know, most assassins can't handle cumming more than once with me, Bulat and I even did it once to see how he'd fare, and he's _gay_." She looked him in the eyes again with that steamy smile, slowly sliding her shaved, aching lips up all eight inches of his cock while biting her bottom lip. "He popped twice and fell asleep, but you… what you don't have in skill, you have in stamina." She chuckled at the talented assassin's thunderstruck face and soft moans. "Typically, I require both and end up getting myself off after round 2, but now I can't hold back. Are you sure you're ready for this It hasn't even gone in yet and you look like you're about to shoot again, what do you even do when you're horny?" she said, reaching for his book and flipping to a random page, reading it aloud as she continued to grind him with her oozing, slimy entrance. "He sensually rubbed her areolas with his hands, her dulcet, pleasing whimpers of bliss setting Hitomi ablaze with passion-" She laughed and tossed the book aside. "Is this what you're getting off to?"

"It's a good story, with action, romance and love," Kakashi argued.

Leone prodded the oozing head of the impressive saber in front of her. "Bullshit, you pervert," she laughed, "are you a virgin or something?"

Kakashi stopped speaking and turned away, flustered again.

Leone gasped, gripping the high shaft of the knife with her right hand and softly rubbing up and down. "Holy shit, you are!" she laughed. "That explains so much- I'm gonna fucking destroy you!" Her demonic grin returned and she raised her hips, stretching her folds open so Kakashi could see the pink, dripping sleeve of heaven beckoning him inside. "I'm so sorry, after tonight you'll never want to read another book again." Kakashi swallowed in anticipation and watched every moment in agonizing detail, the closer her passage approached his key. The head prodded the entrance and he winced. She slowly bent forward, breathing heavily on his neck and chin. "You've got such a nice dick, and its first time is gonna be all mine," she said, licking his neck like an electric rod. She sat up again, initiating the plunge. She blushed heavily as he parted her lips, filling her out in measures indescribable by the virgin.

"Warm, slippery, wet, smooth," Kakashi said, sitting up a little as she coiled down on him, her juicy lips hitting his smooth crotch and locking him into her snug, bumpy receptacle. She smiled and tapped six inches above her second mouth.

"You're right here," she said, "do you feel that?"

Kakashi simply nodded in between shallow breaths.

Leone tilted her head in confusion. "You're not going to tell me you want to cum, I just put it in!"

"No, it's not that," he said, "you do know that by avoiding the refractory period twice, I'm _really goddamn sensitive_ down there."

"Then," she said, wrapping her legs around his back and rolling onto hers, pushing him deep inside her rolling snatch. "Go at your own pace," she said with a smile, "unless you're feeling scared." Kakashi swallowed nervously and pulled back, slowly pushing himself in again as he savored every tingle that went up his spine. "Well? You virgins are such a burden, pump faster!"

Kakashi followed her orders more than willingly, slamming himself in again and making her gasp at the sudden force. Her eyes widened and her nails scratched at his back. "You like that?" he asked, receiving an excited nod as she hugged him tightly, letting out a cute, high pitched yelp with each powerful thrust. Kakashi continued speeding up. He wanted more of it, needing to hit it faster and harder as the itch her tight slit transferred to him growing more and more intense. He pulled out and rolled her onto her back. "I want to do it this way," he said, seeing her raise onto her hands and needs. She wiggled her apple shaped, bubble butt to tease him and he took the bait, plunging with such intensity that Leone's claws popped out and she ripped at the sheets. Kakashi developed a fast rhythm that was mind-numbingly ecstatic, living for the sound her cheeks made when they hit his hips. He let out another groan and gripped her ass.

"Slap it," she ordered, "slap it hard-" she grit her teeth as his hand came down hard, vibrating her perfect ass and feeling him lean forward onto her. "Is my pussy that good?"

"I'm going to make you cum all over the bed," he growled, "you're not going to be able to walk once I'm through with this wonderful pussy!"

"Yes, yes, _yessss_ ," she purred, receiving what she wanted in spades and thrusting back with equal force. "You have that frantic style of an inexperienced dirty boy, and I love it!" She continued her light yips and Kakashi groaned, sitting her fat ass against him and placing one hand under her heavy breast while kissing her neck and using his other hand to support her juicy thighs while she bounces. He pressed his chest against her back while she moved his hand down to her pelvis, letting him feel her walls open and close again with a slight tumbling sensation. "And you better not-"

"I'm gonna come!" Kakashi said in between hard grunts.

"Well that was fast!" Leone chuckled, fading into a sigh, "but I guess it couldn't be helped." She laid back, pushing the center line from the head of his penis down the shaft onto the clit directly as he chugged along inside like a freight train and turned around, being her knees up and down as she rode him full cowgirl style. She ran her hands through his soft hair, pulling him up pressing her forehead against his. "I wanna see your face when you come," she said in between short breaths, returning to her cattish rawls the harder he bumped her womb. "Damn, you actually might see mine too-"

"Shit!" Kakashi exclaimed. Leone pumped one arm in victory and she clamped down tight, giggling giddily in anticipation for the finale.

"That's the way I like it," she exasperated, gasping again as he took control briefly. "Oh _fuck_!" She bit his neck hard as he exploded inside her, she scratched from the center of his back outwards and moaned loudly, her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she let forth a counterflow of warm, runny squirt on his abs and thighs that ran down to his thick, fruity solution rushing into her body that overflowed in a small, sticky pool of white underneath her welcoming lips. "There you go," she said softly, "cum to momma, your balls must be putting everything they've got into this, god, virgin creampies are the best!"

Kakashi sat straight up and gripped her buttcheeks, kissing her wildly as if he'd lose the moment for good. She kissed him back while slowly grinding on the mess while he was still inside, keeping him rock-hard as the itch inside her begged to get scratched even more. "That was exhilarating," he said, trying to pull out. She grabbed his ass and yanked him forward, the sudden re-entry on his head making the ninja groan again.

"Kukukukuku… We haven't even started yet," she cried, her hungry, golden eyes locking onto Kakashi's thunderstruck, relaxed ones. Leone put her hands on his shoulders and raised again, her eyes rolling up at the feeling of his meaty cock bulging in the middle and thinning toward the head and base. "And you better get used to it if you think you're going to keep making moves on me," she said, "because we're not going to stop-" she leaned into his ear again. "-until I'm completely satisfied."

Kakashi came to the realization that she wasn't planning on letting him sleep tonight, not that he felt he'd want to.

"Don't worry about it breaking or anything," she said, "It's not like you're not gonna get soft inside me anyway."

Kakashi tensed up with every bounce, her organ coiling and uncoiling around his shaft and his sensitive head lightly kissing the end of her sugary sleeve. Leone gripped his shoulders tightly as her hips rapidly slammed down in his pelvis, pounding pleasure pulsating through the ninja's body. The mixture of yelps and groans filled the room again, this time with Kakashi on top and thrusting all he had into her as she bit his neck again. He burst again with a louder moan and Leone squealed in delight as another stream of hot ejaculate painted his abs. Kakashi nearly collapsed inside her and huffed heavily. "I came in an instant," he said, growing hard as she squeezed and released with her pocket.

She rolled on top again, facing him with that wide, evil smile once more. "I guess it's my turn now," she said confidently, "enjoy the view." She turned around, squatting as she lowered her bouncy, tight butt onto him and took him all the way. Her tempo was slow at first, grinding and slowly jamming herself down onto him. As if a switch had been flipped on, he hit his pelvis faster than anything unlike he had ever thought was possible. Her exquisite slot jerked Kakashi rapidly, bouncing and shaking her ass from side to side and in wide circles with the hips. Her mastery of his body part was pristine and her pussy like a honey jar, and cumming three times in a row with her only validated that assumption. "Keeping cumming rapidly, that feels so fucking good," she said, throwing it back when she leaned forward. "Just like that baby," she said with a tired laugh. "I'll be done soon," she promised, rotating her body in small circles as she pulled out and pushed in like a circular vacuum tube. The sliminess and wetness of her natural lube made it slide in and out with ease.

"No please," Kakashi said, hugging her across the front and jackhammering upward, "take your time."

Leone squeezed shut again and another spurt filled her to the brim. Kakashi's knees trembled but he was determined to enjoy as much of this as he possibly could. "You sure about that?"

Kakashi licked up the back of her neck, making her spine tingle. The itch down where she couldn't reach resurged.

"You've just sealed your fate!" she cried, milking him happily for the next four hours. They came together for the final time with Leone on top, whipping his cock out and letting that burst shot spray across her stomach, chest, face, and hair while her legs shook back and forth violently from his precise strikes of splendor that spliced her in all the right places. His cum dripped down her face like little raindrops of victory she gained over Kakashi as he finally laid back, admitting his defeat. She laughed in between hard breaths as the last of her earth-shattering orgasm oozed off the bed and onto the floor. She let the adrenaline pass and stuck it back in again, licking her lips in a perverted yet exhausted state. She leaned forward and pulled the sheets again over them. "Damn, I needed that."

* * *

 **LEMON END**

* * *

The night passed with them locked together chest to chest, but the night wouldn't last very long.

Bulat kicked down the door as the black of night faded into the dark blue just before the dawn. "The base is being attacked!" he barked, ripping their eyes open and quickly closing the door. "Oh my," he said, putting a hand over his mouth to stifle the laughter.

Leone dismounted the groggy Shinobi. "Do you think he saw us?" she chuckled, going to the sink by the window to wash her face off and splash some of last night off her body before she could get into a real bath.

"Yes," Kakashi said bluntly, figuring it was no use getting embarrassed over. He reached into his black backpack and handed her a water canteen. "This might be easier than using your hands." He felt the bruises on his neck and covered them up with his facemask. "Although it won't get rid of this."

"Oh, suck it up," Leone said, taking the canteen as he pulled his perfectly folded uniform out and changing into it. He donned the facemask and checked his blade before sheathing it on his back. "You know you loved it."

"I never said I didn't," Kakashi said suggestively, "you cannot tell right now, but I am winking."

Leone finished dressing and yanked open the door. "Let's go." She turned around, finding him already gone. "Well alright!"

The team gathered outside with Najenda giving a briefing of the situation as they entered the dark surrounding forests. Lubbock held an interesting position, with his arms outstretched and fine strings wrapped around his finger that you could only see by the glinting of the material from the rising sun. "Good, you're all here," she said, "as much as we hoped what triggered Lubbock's trap was a rabbit or a dog, it appears to be a band of recall agents outsourced by the Empire." That statement made the ninja tense. That meant there was more than just the Empire Konohagakure needed to focus on. "Lubbock will stay here and monitor their advancement upon the compound, your job is to make sure Lubbock won't have to monitor much. Mine, stay here with Lubbock in case any slip through the cracks."

Mine groaned and stomped over to Lubbock with her arms folded and her man-sized high tech rifle leaned up against her.

"As for me, I have matters elsewhere," she said, entering the compound. "I do not need to wish you luck."

Tatsumi brandished his blade enthusiastically. "Then let's get 'em!"

Leone transformed into her lion state and vanished in a flash of gold. Akame drew her katana and spun it around as it took a strange red and black aura that made Kakashi feel cold just looking at it. Bulat seemed to be changing as well, as a solid palm into the ground and a quick incantation plated him with the suit of impenetrable armor with his sword that he had faced when they first met. "Activate, Incursio!" he exclaimed, letting a light, golden energy envelop him and turn his blade into a six-foot lance with a broad, red head that made it look like a piked axe. Kakashi felt his stomach drop in that moment as hindsight made him look back on just how much danger he had put himself in trying to fight him, even Sheele's special weapon roared to life with demonic energy that made the dull, rusty shears clean and incredibly fine.

"Kakashi!" Tatsumi whisper-shouted, seeing the main members leap into action. " _Did. You. See. That?!_ "

Kakashi couldn't help his amazement. "Remember when we tried killing them?"

Tatsumi laughed but then turned to him, sweating profusely as he laughed with a sad frown. "I don't want to."

Bulat laughed from behind them, scaring the life out of both of them. "We're not your targets, Bulat!" Kakashi said, "I think you might have killed Tatsumi over here!"

Bulat ran in between them. "I need you two to split up, we need to search as much ground as possible for these bastards, and if you could call me bro, that'd be nice. Bye!" He rocketed into the air with a massive leap, landing nearly on the other side of the forest.

"You got it, bro!" Tatsumi said. "Kakashi, get out there and beat some ass!"

"We'll be back before breakfast," the ninja said dryly, running straight at a tree then vertically up the side with his arms behind his back. Tatsumi stopped with his jaw in the grass.

"What the _fuck_?" Tatsumi exclaimed, just shaking his head and continuing toward the enemy.

Kakashi continued from the treetops, quickly seeing at least twenty five not-so-stealthy special forces running quietly toward the base. He leaped forward, performing another series of handsigns and stopping on one. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he announced. Four pillars of smoke next to him materialized into four running copies of himself, wielding weapons and wearing the masks. "Spread out," he said, "let Night Raid and the enemy only see one of us."

The clones nodded and dived from the trees. Kakashi followed them, landing in the center of a group of seven heading straight for the compound. The group stopped and turned around, surrounding the ninja with their scimitars and lances brandished and ready. "Are you one of them Night Raid assassins?"

"I'm here to kill you for shits and giggles, yes," Kakashi said dryly, driving his sword through a man's chest and kicking his partner in his jaw so hard it snapped. He landed on his feet as the other five rushed him at the same time. "You're just following orders, but you've picked a bad employer."

Three strikes cut them down, allowing him to move onto the next group. The sun rose and the blood fell freely; Kakashi returned to the camp after cutting down his clones where no one would see it, and on the way he found the bulk of their band by the river surrounding one individual with a black and red blade. He decided to watch from the trees as Akame did what she did best, cutting down enemies faster than they could react. Within seconds, the pool of blood around her feet was enough to send them running, but multiple kunai and a couple well-placed kicks sealed the deal. "There you are!" she exclaimed. "I was wondering where you went!"

"Splitting up was the most efficient," he lied, following the amazing swordswoman back to the compound. "I came back to find you, but I would have been in the way."

Akame frowned. "I thought you had gotten hurt," she said, looking up at him as they met with the rest of their team at Lubbock and Mine's position. "What did I tell you about that?"

"I haven't been hit yet," Kakashi said, "and when the times comes I'll spare no details."

"All clear," Lubbock said, allowing the team to take a collective sigh.

"So what now?" Tatsumi asked. "Food?"

"Training!" Bulat exclaimed to Tatsumi's dismay. "Get washed and dressed, you're going with Mine today, Kakashi can go with Sheele. Let's get on that grind!"

Kakashi slipped his mask into his pocket and looked at the ditzy, beautiful purple-haired assassin. Her hair was messy from the night before and her baggy rabbit-themed pajamas were caked in someone else's blood. She simply tilted her head and smiled softly. Kakashi nodded to her. "When would you like to begin?"

Sheele took a moment to think, with a hand on her hip and another on her chin. "At noon, no, eleven."

"Eleven?" Kakashi confirmed.

"I'll knock on your door," she said softly, walking back to her room. "Wear something casual, we're just running some errands for Akame and I'll need your help." Kakashi thanked god he could wash up and did so; sex and blood didn't make the best smell. He walked out of the bathroom in black shorts and his facemask and walked back to his room, seeing the green-haired surveillance master waiting for him.

"Hey Lubbock," Kakashi said, stepping into his room but stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Kakashi, my man, how's it going?" he asked with a shit-eating grin Kakashi likened to the ANBU chairman as he sucked up to the Hokage.

"Can I get dressed first?" he asked.

"This is important," Lubbock said, "I need your help on two things." He pulled Kakashi into the room and slammed the door shut. Kakashi sighed and went into his backpack, throwing on a gray tee-shirt with a brown smiling pug on it with khaki shorts, making his thigh pouch look like a fanny pack. If anyone asked about the mask, he was sick. "First of all, I would like to applaud you. No one here that I know of has made it this far. Bulat mentioned to me that you and Leone-" he leaned in close to the Shinobi. "- _did_ things, thingish… things... things that would allow you to provide me with some necessary... information."

Kakashi saw the camera in Lubbock's hands and recognized that other look on his face, the one belonging to the author of the book on his bedside table. "Absolutely not."

"This is your training," he said quickly, "in stealth. If you do not comply I will tell Najenda."

Kakashi scoffed. "Why would she allow any of this?"

Lubbock grinned deviously, pulling out a mission ledger of which Najenda signed from his green hoodie pocket. "Because she has a great sense of humor."

Kakashi snatched the sheet from him faster than he could react. "No way!"

Lubbock cackled, his generally calm voice cracking into shrill insanity. "You have to do it! I can compensate you greatly for up close shots!"

"I said no," Kakashi said.

"Do it," Lubbock insisted.

"Or else what?" Kakashi asked.

Lubbock was a little taller than the Shinobi, but judging by this morning it would be a bad move to take on this guy in a fight. Lubbock darted for the bedside table and Kakashi gasped.

"You wouldn't!" he exclaimed as Lubbock snatched the book laughing. Kakashi growled in anger, lunging forward and beginning a chase around the room.

Lubbock flipped the book to the last page and Kakashi's heart sank. The room dropped thirty degrees but all Kakashi could do was sweat. "I'll do it! I'll spoil the end of this…" Lubbock read a few sentences and his face bunched up as the lewdness from the text hit his eyes. He held it sideways, letting some of the pages flip down as he read the words. "This is porn."

"It's a realistic tale of action, heroism and romance!" Kakashi argued, "and I will _not_ get you those-"

"Hitomi collapsed into Daisuke's arms," Lubbock read with a sly grin, "the tower-"

"No!" Kakashi bellowed, plugging his ears. "Okay! Okay! I'll take your damn pictures!"

Lubbock laughed and closed the book, as soon as he did he felt the sting of Kakashi's heel knock the book back onto the table standing up. "Deal?"

There was a knock at the door. "Kakashi?" Sheele's voice said.

"Coming!" Kakashi said.

"Look, take it," Lubbock whispered, "Leone's heading to the hot springs at two thirty tonight after she returns from her mission, all I need is a breast shot and maybe a few of _dat ass_."

"You'll get your pics alright," Kakashi said with enough salt in his voice to put in a shaker. He tossed the camera onto his bed.

Lubbock jumped out the window as Sheele opened the door. "You must hurry, the marketplace has sales this time of day."

"My apologies," Kakashi said, clearing his throat.

"Then let's be on our way?" she said.

Kakashi followed her out of the compound and into the Capitol again in a long row of food stands with fresh and occasionally not as fresh produce, meat, and fish. It was definitely busy this time of day, as not a step hit the ground without stepping on someone's toes. It was a nice day out too, everyone bringing along their kids or dogs with them, meeting up with friends, but some incidents within the normality raised concern. "Some of these people look quite unhappy," he noted.

Sheele sighed. "They're unsatisfied with the Minister's government," she said, "the quicker he's out, the better."

Prime target, identified? Kakashi would save that for the letter. "Speaking of that, are you sure you should be out in public?"

Sheele smiled. "I haven't been caught in this part of town," she said, her smile fading. "Yet." She gasped and ran toward a stand selling cantaloupe. "Kakashi! Get that sale!" she ordered, tossing him a bag of gold coins. She cried out and fell forward, her glasses flying off her face and vanishing in the crowd. "Oh no, oh no! My glasses!" she said. "You have to help me find my glasses!"

Kakashi looked around frantically, staying calm but annoyed at the rude shoppers bumping Sheele around and calling her names as they were slightly inconvenienced. He pushed through a crowd of deal sharks and found the pair of glasses just as they were going underneath a stocky, flat-footed child's heel. He darted forward and hooked her leg up, crouching and snatching the glasses before the kid crushed the glass. He looked at the fuming mom of the now crying kid and put her glasses on, smiling nervously at the mother bear. "Sorry."

"Sorry?!" she barked, swinging her purse at him. Kakashi leaned back and found an opening within the crowd that led to Sheele's face. He whipped the glasses across the market grounds onto her face, making her fall back in surprise. He dodged another purse strike and flipped over the crowd, distancing himself from the family. He helped Sheele to her feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Sheele was red from embarrassment. "Yes, thank you." She looked down, seeing some of the dirt on her stockings and a little on the front of her dress. "I made a scene. I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Sorry for what?" Kakashi said. "You lost your glasses, guys were jerks. Please, don't worry about it."

"It just-" Sheele fastened her glasses with a huff. "It happens a lot. I can be clumsy at times."

Kakashi folded his arms. "From what I saw you do this morning, that's hard to believe."

Sheele appreciated that statement. "It's the only thing I'm good at."

"Well, it's true that you're bad at being humble about how cool you are," Kakashi said, making her laugh a little. He used to have a friend who was a little ditzy, he realized how getting dogged because of it made them feel. His friend helped him now more than ever, but he'd give it back to have all of him again. "Lead the way."

Sheele put on a determined grin. "Right! We'll shop like no team has ever done before!"

"I feel empowered!" Kakashi said, feeling that less and less as he was soon in charge of all the bags. The masses froze as a bell tower sounded three times and like bugs in the light they scattered and thinned into anyone brave enough to stay on the street. "What's happening?"

Sheele's face went dark. "It's an execution," she said, turning to the ninja. "Those three rings indicate the capture and crucifixion of an enemy of the Empire." Her expression was grave. "In the past, that was used to signal the death of one of _us_."

Kakashi hefted the bags on his shoulders and followed Sheele worriedly to a large mass outside a pyramid of crucifixions in the cobblestone central square in front of a running lake leading outside the walls and into the countryside. The sun cast a black shadow upon those executed, some elderly, others children, no one was spared. One in particular caught Kakashi's attention in a terrifying convention. They left the young woman's forehead protector on as she died, slowly bleeding out from a stomach gash like a stuck pig. He set down the bags and quickly pushed the people to the front, stopped by a line of guards wearing light armor.

"Back the fuck up," one guard spat, pushing Kakashi into the arms of other observers that pushed him back to his feet.

"Kakashi, wait," Sheele said, slowly but politely making her way through the crowd.

Her protector had been frozen over on one side, melting from the sun, but he could still recognize her heritage from the black spider etched into the steel. "Tsuchigumo…" he realized, remembering them from the war. They were allies to Konoha. She wore a special operative uniform too; she came here on the same pretenses as he did, now a daughter, mother, sister, lover, or friend wasn't coming home. She had obscene and derogatory messages carved into her skin that had been infected for days, some of the bigger wounds hosting maggots already. Her hair had been ripped out in chunks with bits of her scalp and she slowly looked down, locking eyes with the saddened ally. She and Kakashi kept their gaze into one another's eyes, and as the soft wind blew Kakashi's hair out of his face her thousand yard stare seemed to widen into a sense of unvocalized surprise. She recognized that ace in the hole, slowly rotating forever in the infamous ANBU's eye. Moreover, she recognized the ninja wielding that power. Konoha's acting, he could tell that's what she was thinking.

She looked down at him and smiled, letting the blood run down from in between her teeth and onto her blue flak jacket as her soul went in the opposite direction. Kakashi simply bowed his head, accepting the burden willingly of fighting for both of them. "It's horrible," Sheele said, "this is how they keep us in check, through intimidation and subjugation."

One of the guards that overheard her shot her a glare. "You shut the fuck up and move along before my boys and I heist you up there too." His friends laughed and tapped their lances on the ground. The crowd backed away from the guards, searching for the assassin speaking her mind.

Sheele covered her mouth and pulled Kakashi by the hand. "Let's go."

"These are the stains hired to protect-" Sheele stopped Kakashi's words with a finger over his mouth.

"It's not worth it, not here, but don't worry," Sheele said, her voice changing into a grave but intent overtone of her calming voice. "There will be plenty of opportunity."

"Hey, you actually look like some the bitches from over there too," the same guard called out. Kakashi's fists balled up and Sheele heard the bags drop under his knuckles cracking. "They're feisty and never break, but that made it all the more fun to do, you wanna know how that feels?" His friends continued to laugh hysterically.

Sheele grabbed Kakashi's hand and looked at him with a frantic and enraged expression as well, shaking her head in small, loud statements against what he was about to do. Kakashi relented and took a deep breath, much to her relief. He picked up the bags again.

"I was on that excursion squad with General Esdeath," the guard shouted, sensing he was getting a reaction out of the crowd with his vulgar depictions. "There was this one smoking babe, brown hair, blue eyes, she moved the water with her mind or some shit like that, she killed about eight of us until we stuffed her and her cuck of a guy friend with our swords, they only had six fucks guarding the whole border! If it's that easy then no one's gonna stop us from-"

Kakashi instead pulled Sheele's hand. "I'm going to slit their throats if we don't leave."

Sheele looked back at the martyr then at Kakashi. "Did you know her?"

No he did not, but in a way they were one and the same. "It's the brutality behind it all, maybe I just need to develop thicker skin while I'm here."

Sheele saw the anger in his face and her heart grew heavy. "It means that you're compassionate and have a sense of morality, but there was a connection between you two, no doubt about it. You felt her pain more than I ever could."

"In my village, many friends of mine met similar fates," he said, "they recognized that in the end, everyone's buried in the same mud. What I saw there…" He trailed off then looked back at Sheele with a straight face hiding sorrow. "It hit a little close to home."

From his prior performance it was obvious he wasn't an amateur, but just what kind of soldier was he? "I might be airheaded but I'm still an assassin," she said. "You're not an assassin, are you?"

"No," Kakashi said as they reached the border. "Not yet, at least." He turned to her and extended his hand.

Sheele led him to the country roads again and back to the compound, walking in as Najenda entered from the secret front entrance. She took her boss's chair and continued flipping through a stack of requests, reading each one thoroughly before putting it into one of two piles on the end of the dining room table while sipping a glass of red wine. She smiled at their entry. "From the looks of it, he passed?"

The ninja's brow furrowed in confusion. "What test?"

"You passed my training today," Sheele said, sounding sad for his achievement. "This is the most grueling, but as assassins we must keep our cool in all situations. Their descriptions of what they would do to the soldiers of the Land of Fire…" she tried to find a proper word. "Deplorable, but you kept a level head and kept from causing a scene with the mother."

"Losing your glasses was also a test?" Kakashi asked.

Sheele blushed again. "Well, no, but it showed that you're competent and can stay calm."

Najenda chuckled. "I applaud your teamwork, especially this morning on the battlefield, Kakashi." The Shinobi looked at her knowing expression. "It seemed as if you were in five places at once."

Kakashi played it off as a compliment. "Sheele was taking off more heads than me, most of the time I was trying to stay out of the way."

He had a feeling she knew he was lying, but he couldn't let her know that. "The latter is contradicted by the countless Shuriken wounds found in their bodies, Kakashi."

Kakashi laughed nervously. "Oh, it was-"

"Bulat is quite impressed, the rest of us are," she said, handing Sheele a picture of their next target. "Which is why you and Sheele will continue working together tonight to bring down your next target. The rest of the team will be taking down a relative of the Prime Minister, but we need you to assassinate the remaining two training heads of their infantry. They're already maxing out trainer hours and the army's combat readiness is showing it. We need you to make them suspend the program for awhile."

Kakashi and Sheele looked at each other confidently and nodded. "Consider them-"

"Dead," Najenda finished for them. "Good. I want you both back by midnight."

She would not be getting them back by midnight, as it was evident to the Shinobi how often Sheele used a stealthy approach with her apologizing or losing her glasses every now and again. He didn't get mad behind it, anything that came her way she'd cut it in half. The moonlight guided their path to a five story temple at the top of a tall, grassy hill among a stretch of rolling hills with a paved path on the side for shipments. All carriages were in the driveway, and the horses in the stable on the opposite end. The lights were out in the temple, but they didn't want to walk in as of no one was home. Kakashi drew his sword and crept forward with Sheele in the front. "Captain Toguro and Bui stay on the third floor when finishing black belt testing," she said, "the students are not our targets, so don't kill them unless they leave you no choice."

"There are no entrances," he said, finding no door and very thin slits for windows in the decorated, red and gold training prison.

Sheele smirked. "This is where I'm useful."

Kakashi trusted her and followed her lead, jumping onto the wall of the third floor. Sheele let out a high-pitched yelp as her foot slipped, but Kakashi caught her hand just in time. "You okay?"

She was embarrassed again but relieved. "Yes," she whispered, smiling as she slowly pushed her shears through the foot-thick brick walls. She giggled at his awe for her weapon. "Say hello to my Teigu, Extase," she said, spinning her blade and chopping a big circle into the side. "She can cut through anything-"

"Hey!" a hoarse voice from inside the dojo exclaimed. The light was on, thirty angry, sweaty black belts had been training in the room at the time, but there were no masters to be found.

Kakashi and Sheele looked at each other, confirming the proper assessment of the situation they were in. "Shit," the said, slipping into the sparring floor and onto the mat. They saw two spiral staircases in the corners of the square room.

"You guys must be Night Raid!" one student wielding a blade said, pointing it at the duo. "Kill them both! We don't need the Captains to take you down! Surround them!"

The two assassins stood back to back, staring down 15 soldiers planning on skewering them. "Take the top floors, I'll take the bottom," Sheele ordered.

"Charge!" the ringleader shouted, racing to stab them in every possible place.

Kakashi threw down a black smoke bomb and he darted through the crowd of budding masters while Sheele dropped through a hole she cut in around herself.

"Split up," the ringleader ordered between coughs, stumbling toward the fourth floor. Kakashi was already up the stairs, breaking bones and punching blood out of anyone in his way. As the mob from the third floor joined him on the elite dojo floor he found himself surrounded again by black belts. "You must be tired of living," the ringleader said again, "all of us have at least killed 50 men, what's one man gonna do? Kick his ass!"

Kakashi chuckled. "I remember when I got my first black belt," he said, charging one edge of the crowd itself. "It can be a humbling experience. Let me show you." The crack of the first jaw led into a wild melee where the Shinobi didn't bother using any jutsu, no bone was sacred to break. In the end, the school laid flat on their asses, groaning and rolling with pain. Kakashi rushed up to the next floor, finding only boxes, training dummies, and containers. Sheele was taking on both instructors alone. "Shit!" He ran down the stairs again past the second floor, admiring and feeling a little terrified behind her handiwork. He ended up on the first floor, a small room with two bedrolls on either side of the lantern-lit chamber. Sheele stood in between the two heavyweight masters with little worry on her face, rather a gaunt and haunting expression the Shinobi could only describe as a looming death. She tilted her head to the side in a cute but off putting fashion with Extase covered in blood by her side.

"Take this bitch's head!" one master cried out, charging with a flying spin of his longsword. Sheele didn't bother turning toward him and leaned back.

"Sorry, to both of you." She rolled underneath her opponent and let Extase take the kill, chopping the man in half.

The other master let out a cry of rage and gave Sheele a better match, but the contrast between her usual self and the demon wielding the giant scissors could not be understated. Every move was fluid like a bloodstream and quick as a guillotine, calculated and carried out with ease, with her stone cold face of indifference broke the spirit of anyone unfortunate to be in her way. Kakashi had seen more vicious and awe-inspiring Shinobi and Kunoichi in the field, but no one ended life like they were hardwired for it to the effect as she did. She cut through the second master's sword like butter and the buff swordsman leaned back, yelping in pain as she cleaved through his nose. Sheele pushed forward and opened her scissors again, staying silent under his screams for help as she decapitated him. The blood fountain sprayed all over her dress and face and her aloof smile returned. He wasn't sure if that disgusted him, or made her more attractive in the scariest way possible.

"That was messy," Kakashi said.

"But the job is done-" She tripped over one of the bodies but caught herself with Extase. "Whoops! Silly me, falling all over everything," she laughed, despite the surgical precision she practiced just seconds ago. She was a completely different person. "Shall we go?"

Kakashi cleared his throat, seeing the blood running down her face as a warning to stay on her good side. "Lead the way- do you need me to clean your glasses?"

"No, but thanks anyway." Sheele took them off curiously and wiped the blood from them onto her dress. She put them back on. "You and I make a pretty good team, I'd say."

They left the compound in the dead of night, leaving within the black forests on foot. "That was all you," Kakashi said, "I didn't want to get in the way or else…" He made the gesture with his thumb across his neck.

"Najenda paired us because you're quite agile for a new assassin," she said, "we balance each other out."

Kakashi rubbed his chin, thinking back on the guy that got popped like a zit. "Then she's underestimating you."

"We'll work together more, I'll show you what I mean," she said, nearly running into the table as they entered the compound. She and Kakashi went down the hallway and Kakashi stopped at his door, receiving a light hug from behind. "Just stay alive for me, alright?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Wasn't planning on dying. Goodnight." He went into his room and closed the door, mentally preparing for his next task with his inner thoughts and the silence. He reluctantly reached for the camera Lubbock assigned him and looked on his bedside table, seeing the wind-up clock reading the time as two and a small scroll opened revealing a map going to the hot springs. He took off his wolf mask and set it down, shaking out his hair and walking to the mirror to look himself in the eyes. "You, are, a _man_ ," he said, but then morals hit him in the face, "a _man_ who's about to get killed if he's caught, but Lubbock will get his due." He stopped talking and turned in the mirror, seeing his wolf mask not where it should be. He stood at the edge of his bed, letting the three black tomoe in his red eye whirl to life. His hand went toward his thigh pouch, but to his dismay and surprise that had been swiped too. He flicked his wrist, shimmying the kunai from his sleeve into his hand. She wasn't sneaky nor fast enough to evade a Shinobi. "Those don't belong to you."

"I know, take them back from me," Najenda said. Kakashi whirled around and threw the kunai. She knew it was just meant to scare her, but she caught it anyway. "Resourceful, fast, dangerous, just as I expected."

Najenda knew if things went awry, it would take all of Night Raid to put him down. "Can I help you?" Kakashi asked.

Najenda handed him his belongings, keeping an arm's distance. "We have our intel operatives too," she said with that same knowing smirk, heading toward the door.

"Now hold on just a-"

"We will speak on this later," she said. "This is on a need to know basis, and as of now, it's you and me. You have pictures to take." She closed the door and Kakashi rushed to open it again, but she was already gone like a ghost fading into the darkness. He closed the door again. He felt it was no longer just him and his own thoughts. Certainly, that would complicate things.

* * *

 **THOUGHTS ABOUT THE LEMON**

 **WHAT DOES NAJENDA KNOW**

 **WILL LUBBOCK GET HIS COMEUPPANCE**


	4. Kill the Executioner

**OWN NOTHING**

 **BIG ASS SORRY FOR THE LONG ASS BREAK**

 **I WAS IN PERU FOR THE LAST 2 WEEKS IN A MEDICAL BRIGADE RIGHT AFTER FINALS WEEK AT MY UNI**

 **BUT I'M BACK BITCHES**

 **THANK Y'ALL FOR YOUR PATIENCE**

Kakashi kept an eye on the ground in case he and Najenda were being trailed through the deep, mountainous woods at the crack of dawn, with a rendezvous point as discrete as this it's no wonder to how the Revolutionary Army was able to watch from the shadows, only revealing themselves when needed. There were some hidden villages easier to find than the _fake_ Revolutionary Army base they were sent to aid. "Over the past three weeks," Najenda said, "Esdeath has increased the number of platoons heading toward 'the New World' but her presence here is noted quite heavily."

"I've seen her handiwork," Kakashi said, "although efficient, she's not very good at cleaning up after herself. You still haven't told me what we're picking up."

"At Esdeath's last raid, the serving Lieutenant carrying the list of settlements in the New World was caught in the blast radius of her finishing blow to our forces," Najenda said, "the silver lining to that was whatever remained of our forces snagged that book and will be delivering it to us at their backup base. I have a contact in the Land of Fire waiting for it."

"Then what?" Kakashi pressed. "We mobilize while they're distracted?" He threw multiple kunai into the surrounding trees above them and multiple cameras lodged in between the branches fell like stones with the pierce marks dead in the center.

"It should take a week for word to return here of the results of their assault," she said with a confident grin. She enjoyed having a competent partner, despite him trying to play dumb. "But by the time the report gets to my agent, the coasts would have already been attacked." She looked at him coyly. "Unless you can get it there in three."

Najenda saw the mask slowly turn to her and back to the hidden path. She couldn't see his scowl but she could feel his eyebrows furrowing and his face turning red. He could get it there in two but his method would completely give himself away. "I would have no idea where to go," he said innocently.

Najenda chuckled with one hand over her mouth, it was cute when he tried to lie. "You're not who you say you are, and you know I know that."

"You're right, I have a confession to make," Kakashi said, stopping them cold and taking off his ANBU mask for a brief moment. "I'm the boogeyman."

Najenda slapped him. "Put your damn mask back on and keep moving!"

Kakashi laughed. "You thought I was going to say something shocking, right?"

"It was shocking," Najenda said with a scowl, "shockingly _stupid_."

The Shinobi climbed up the nearest tree with the boss and continued from branch to branch as they passed over a guarded envoy. "For someone as nosy as you are, it was only fair."

Najenda ignored that slight and focused her attention at the thin line of stones around multiple glaciers standing each at thirty meters tall and beaming with the pride of the Empire under the sun. She stopped cold in her tracks and held onto the trunk of the tree they scaled. The color drained from her face as the blood-tipped peaks of the glaciers indicated the wellness of their contact. Kakashi looked down at the envoy of guards on horses around a drawn carriage heading toward the glacier site. "We were too late," Najenda said in a hushed tone. "The intel drop might still be there. We need to investigate."

"And we might want to hurry," he said, handing her two kunai to use as picks. He wouldn't need them, as soon as he hit the ice he ran up the side of it like it was sidewalk. He silently peeked over the side, seeing the frozen remains of a small camp slowly thawing out the bloated, dismembered revolutionaries underneath. The smell of half frozen rotting human kicked Najenda and Kakashi in the face, but the anger of the boss kept her from paying attention to it. They slid down the glacier and into the center of the camp, scouring the ruins for a small, brown handbook. The sound of long swords hacking away at the ice hastened their search on the bodies, but their presence was given away anyway by a loud groan by one of the remaining revolutionary soldiers. Kakashi covered the grizzled, older man's mouth.

"They're still alive!" a raspy guard snapped from outside the walls. "Unload the ram!"

"Shit," Kakashi cursed under his breath. He quickly examined the expiring soldier's body, feeling both legs crushed by the ice and nearly every rib broken. The way his back was contorted, he probably stopped feeling everything below the belt as soon as it snapped.

"Can he make it?" Najenda asked, holding the final logs and threaded dog tags of the revolutionaries in her hands.

Kakashi saw the fear in the veteran warrior's eyes settle into acceptance and peace again. He looked down at the man and back up at Najenda. "The damage is too severe. If we did take him back, he would die."

"Put me out of it then," he asked the ninja through grit and bloody teeth. Kakashi looked down at the twisted soldier sick of existing and back up at Najenda once again. "Don't be a fuckin' pussy, I'm already dead." He grunted in pain as he used the last of his strength to pull a small, brown handbook from beneath his jacket. "This is what you came here for. Get the fuck out."

The ice barricade burst open as the man closed his eyes for the last time to seven heavily armored guards with lances surrounding the carriage charging in. "Stop right there!" one guard in the front shouted, whipping out his silver lance.

"Um, Rory?" another guard asked him as they were forming ranks with a deep, sluggish and drowsy voice. They watched Kakashi pull the dog tags from the old soldier's neck and stow the notebook away. "Just a quick question, when has the standard 'stop right there' command actually worked?"

Rory smacked the questioning guard's helmets. "Cecil," he said with a raspy but dominant tone, "two of the most dangerous assassins on the planet leading a revolt against our pride and government are escaping and the only thing on your mind is whether or not our preliminary exclamation holds a moot purpose?"

Rory and Cecil charged, with Najenda barely taking a step before the Shinobi charged them both with a short sword picked up from one of the dead revolutionaries. The three guards in the front kept their conversation while engaging the ninja with surprising skill. "Well, he has a point," the third guard said with a common, 'improper' accent close to Cockney, Kakashi recognized their accents as extremely British, each from a different region of the country. "Look at this guy, you pointed your spear and shouted 'Stop right there!' and he didn't stop not a bit."

"It's supposed to alert the miscreant of our superior status and sentinel's flare by announcing our wishes for them as they continue their untoward activities, Rupert!" Rory barked.

Kakashi kicked Cecil in the stomach and propelled himself into the air. He glanced over at the four guards attacking Najenda, seeing them writhing on the floor in immense agony as she smiled and gave him a thumb up with her green prosthetic arm. She didn't seem to have put effort into it at all. He looked back down at the trio of guards and figured it was time to go. He made four hand signs and took in a deep breath as the tops of the glaciers crashed together and melted into three compact balls of ice-cold water in front of his face.

"What's he on about?" Rupert asked.

"Well how am I supposed to know?" Rory asked.

"I think he was asking himself that question," Cecil said.

"Watch your mouth, Cecil!" Rory snapped.

"You told us to watch the assassin," Cecil said distressed.

"Not _literally_ ," Rupert clarified.

"How do I figuratively watch the assassin, then?" Cecil further asked.

"Water Release: Water Bullet Technique!" Kakashi made one last hand sign and the three water bullets screamed through the air, crashing into the guards' helmets and knocking them out cold, and wet.

Najenda walked over to the horse drawn carriage and looked inside the windows, seeing stack upon stack of unlit dynamite all fused in one charge in the backseat. "How well can you command horses?"

"I have a very particular set of skills," he replied, retrieving his lost kunai, " **skills** I have acquired over a very long career. **skills** that make me a nightmare for people like the Emperor."

"That's a no?" she answered for him.

"That's a no," he confirmed.

"You'll figure it out," Najenda assured him. "Come here, take a look."

Kakashi walked up to the carriage and looked inside, chuckling at how sloppy the Empire's damage control was. "We're on the same page, it seems." Kakashi hopped to the driver's seat of the carriage and looked over at the vacant passenger's side, but he heard the carriage door open all the way and shut. He leaned off the side and looked through the window, seeing his boss put her feet up from the front seat to the back. "Maybe you're a little farther ahead in the text." Either way, he hit the reins and took off down the forest path, reaching the base by sunset.

The boss threw the bag of dynamite over her shoulder and led Kakashi into the compound as the other members of Night Raid discussed their latest mission. "He calls himself 'Zanku the Executioner,'" Lubbock explained, "the slasher has recently killed 31 women within the last week, his trademark being decapitation."

"Do we have any info on him?" Tatsumi asked. "Other than he needs to die?"

"What else is there to know?" Mine said scornfully. "Guy was the Emperor's top executioner that snapped a little over three years ago after the voices of the people he killed became the voices in his head and the bastard went AWOL, he's back in the capitol and we have to make sure he stays here in however many pieces we need to cut him up into."

"AWOL?" Kakashi said. "He _definitely_ left his post."

Mine shrugged. "But as an executioner, one could say he's still doing his job."

"I didn't know all of that," Sheele said innocently.

"Sheele," Leone said, shaking her head. "You were the one that found all of our intel on him."

Sheele gasped. "That's right!"

"Everyone, pair up," Bulat said, "Mine, you're with me."

"I want to go with Tatsumi," Mine said bluntly, but Bulat grinned mischievously at the young pink-haired girl.

"I'm with Leone, then," Bulat said with a wink. "Try not to have too much fun, you two."

Mine gagged. "You're not funny, Bulat."

Kakashi felt a hand squeeze his. "You're with me," Akame said.

"Kakashi just got in from a mission," Najenda said.

"So he's not going?" Lubbock asked.

"It means he's already warmed up," she said, patting Kakashi on the back. "Get going."

The guild shared a laugh before they started a night search for the executioner. The teams had split to work on clues that would lead them to their target, with Kakashi and Akame alone by the river bridge that went down the center of the Empire. The night was dead, an unusual sight of the city. "Everyone's pretty terrified," he said, "he must be pretty well-renowned."

Akame drew her sword, brandishing it under the moonlight and striking through the air a few times before sheathing it again. "His memory will be held dear by all serial killers, everywhere."

Kakashi had experience with types like Zanku. Like a hydra, when he struck one down, two more sprang up in its place. "That might be a reality far more probable than you realize."

They stopped at a split in the road, one leading right into an intricate and narrow-pathed marketplace and the other continuing forward on the cobblestone road overlooking the glistening river. The peaceful silence was shattered by an unhinged cackling across the river over the sounds of blades clashing again and again.

"Tatsumi!" Akame and Kakashi exclaimed, turning toward the river and racing for the bridge.

"When we get to Zanku, I will be the one to fight him," Akame said, "he wields a Teigu, and with my Teigu, only one user may walk away."

"Well," Kakashi thought about the outcome of that without Teigu, "between a killer for hire and a killer for fun…"

"In a battle between any two Teigu users," Akame explained, reaching the bridge first, "due to the nature of the magic that binds them, one user _has to_ die." She looked back at the ninja tailing her and swung her sword back, making Kakashi halt cold as his mask was less than an inch away. "When we reach Tatsumi, you will let me defeat Zanku, are we clear?"

"Based on what you just said," Kakashi said, "I may or may not listen to that command."

"I will not have you die because of me," Akame said, glaring at the seemingly reckless Shinobi with concern. "If you're getting confident after a few missions, then I forbid you to fight him."

"I understand that," Kakashi said, "but we're a team, and the last thing I'll do is have you get killed because you didn't want me in your way."

They reached the other end of the bridge and looked at the mess Tatsumi and Zanku had made of the outside cafe, the tall, musclebound, blond and pale man with red eyes and a shark-like grin carved into his face cut through two tables easily with two Katar blades made sure no piece of woodwork was left from the carnage. "Come come little one," he said in a deep, shrill voice like nails down a chalkboard multiple octaves down. "I just want to see your face when I pop your head off like a zit, I promise it'll only hurt for the first couple seconds!"

"The only one leaving without their head's gonna be you," Tatsumi assured the serial killer wearing a bloodied white dress shirt and black slacks. Tatsumi was also cut here and there, and he seemed tired from how hard he was breathing and his trembling arms. "That Teigu may be able to see my thoughts and the future, but unless you can move fast enough to dodge me, it doesn't mean jack shit." Kakashi noticed the glowing, green glass eye strapped around Zanku's forehead with a dark green pupil that locked onto the charging Akame.

"You're about to see that it'll do far more than that, boy!" Zanku said, greeting the charge and blocking Akame while stabbing Tatsumi's leg and slapping him aside.

Tatsumi roared in pain and fell back, holding his thigh that turned the browns of his khakis a dark red. "You did well, assassin," Akame said in a tone as reassuring as her stoic self could be. "But it's time for us to finish this job."

Zanku chuckled in excitement. "Akame with her infamous blade, Murasame, you think you can land a hit?"

"Your pride," she said, calmly falling into a receiving stance as she blocked a flurry with ease, "will be your downfall."

Zanku laughed. "I'll enjoy parading around the square tomorrow with your sword and your head!" he bellowed, barely parrying a stab and cutting Akame in the knee. She gasped in pain and kicked him in the chest. It felt like stomping on marble and her foot bruised up almost immediately, but it was enough to knock him back.

"Lucky shot," Akame spat, "even with your Teigu you seem to be having a hard time keeping up."

Zanku scoffed. "Your blade is a one-shot deal, so if I'm not dead yet, I must be doing something right."

"Come a little closer, I can confirm that," Akame said, charging again. Steel sliced steel and sparks flew under the blackening skies, acting as the tiniest embers of rage hitting the stone and scorching it with the fires of survival. Zanku seemed to be doing just fine, taking the occasional kick to the shin or elbow strike to the face, but every strike he could counter; for an assassin she was susceptible to the Teigu just like everybody else.

Zanku laughed. "Downward strike, upward slash to the groin, then a stab to my face!" Zanku predicted split-seconds before they happened, parrying them all and thrusting his own blades forward. Akame yelped in pain as two fresh cuts split across her cheek and chin, dripping blood in between her feet. She drew back to slice his neck but he leaned out of the way in the knick of time, sweeping her to the floor with his massive arm and stomping on her shins. "I am invincible!"

Akame gasped but she was not stunned, rolling back and blocking dual downward strikes. She shot up, slamming his chin with a knee strike and catching him in a lock with her thighs around his neck as he stood up. "I aroused, yet terrified," Tatsumi whispered to the calculating and hawk-eyed Shinobi, impressed but readying his own blade should he need to step in. Kakashi hurriedly wrapped Tatsumi's wounds in bandages and built a splint out of nearby tree branches, doing so in a record time out of his own worry for the battle at hand. She threw all her weight downward taking Zanku with her, bending his neck at such an inhuman angle it was a single click away from snapping. Zanku looked up wide-eyed and cackling at the young assassin with her sword rapidly racing to split his head in half. He blocked with one arm and swung his other blade across, gashing her shin. The spray of blood splattered his pants and the ground around it, but gave him the opportunity to roll out of the strike. The two met on their feet again and Akame let out a pained battle cry, swinging down with all her might. Zanku caught her strike in an "X" between his two blades, bringing the fight to a standstill.

Kakashi quickly counted how many places she had been cut. "It's not looking good, he said under his breath. He drew his kunai and turned his entire attention to his partner. "Tatsumi, how long ago did you and Mine split?"

"Five minutes ago," Tatsumi said, "judging by the tower clock. She told me to hide while she found the others, but I've never been good at hide-and-go-assassinate." Zanku edged in another shot but Akame held her ground despite the blood streaming down her shoulder. "Akame!" Tatsumi shouted, gritting his teeth and standing on immense pain. His knees trembled and he slipped again, this time Kakashi kept one arm around his shoulder. "Let me go! Akame got hurt!"

"You're not going anywhere," Kakashi ordered, sounding hypocritical even to himself. "Akame can handle herself, Zanku, and yes, even you."

Tatsumi weakly pushed himself off the Shinobi and drew his blade, prepared to limp into the fray of steel. "I can-"

"Between the two of us," Kakashi said, turning to him and staring through the unsettling wolf ANBU mask, "if Akame needs us, I will go."

"If Akame can't handle him, which is highly unlikely," Tatsumi grunted in pain. "What in the hell makes you think that you can? We'll need to work together."

All Akame could do was parry. Anything she wanted to do would get countered immediately before she could translate thoughts into actions. Zanku blocked multiple downward slashes and swiped his arm to the right like an angry bear, throwing her into the railings by the river. Akame stood up and looked into the green eye. The pupil of it churned and twisted, narrowing into the slit-like pupil of a serpent. Everything stopped. Akame's eyes for the first time showed genuine pain, her stoic, almost statue-like demeanor breaking in tearful sorrow.

Tatsumi's heart raced frantically now. "What the hell did he do to her?"

Kakashi kept a level head. "It's an illusion," he said, "note the eyes, she's no longer looking at Zanku." He continued with his answer to that problem. "Since it's not the user directly causing the illusion, we have to kill him or break the artifact to save Akame."

"What could she be seeing?" Tatsumi asked.

Zanku let out an unearthly bellowing laugh that sent chills up Tatsumi's spine. "This is my Teigu's trump card," he said, "your dear Akame is trapped inside a memory with her closest loved one, completely numb to pain and everything around her! With her like this-" he licked his hard, cracking lips in wicked anticipation. "-I can take my sweet time with her body." Zanku raised his blade high above his head. "It was an honor, Akame!"

Akame dolefully looked up at the blades. "Kurome?" she uttered.

"That's enough!" Tatsumi barked, ignoring his leg and charging forward anyway. A strong hand grabbed him by the shoulder and his fellow beginner rocketed across the cobblestone, catching Zanku in the jaw with a heel kick. Kakashi landed on his feet and slowly settled into a pouncing, tiger-like stance with a kunai in one hand crossed with an open hand fixed like a lion's paw. Zanku had a feeling he'd have to cut Kakashi down before touching Akame, not that he would mind.

"Tatsumi," Kakashi said, slowly revealing his face to the executioner and tossing Tatsumi the mask. "Take this and Akame. Get out of here."

"Sorry, bro," Tatsumi said, using the nickname Bulat had for both him and the Shinobi, "but I'm not leaving you behind."

Zanku watched curiously as the fresh blood slowly pulled down the mask uncovering his left eye. "What is this?"

"Nothing you do or say will make me leave," Tatsumi said, pulling Akame as far away from the battle as possible before returning to his side. Kakashi turned to Tatsumi and for the first time the boy from the countryside was filled with such an immense fear and panic he dropped his sword and his whole body tremored with an insurmountable aversion. The longer he stared into Kakashi's glowing, demonic red eye with three black tomoe spinning around its pupil, the greater his desire to flee became.

"Find Mine and the others," Kakashi ordered, cutting clearly through the ringing in Tatsumi's ears. "I will finish this."

Tatsumi swallowed nervously and nodded, running as fast as he could away from the battle. He picked up Akame and continued running, giving the duelists peace. Kakashi turned back toward an intrigued Zanku. The executioner watched Kakashi's tomoe spin carefully, perplexed by the outlandish weapon inside his opponent's head. "A Teigu, implanted into your head?" he guessed.

Kakashi could use that excuse if the need arose. "Since you're about to die, I'll tell you a little about it." He lunged anyway with blinding speed, landing an elbow strike into Zanku's stomach and flipping him over his shoulder just as the Teigu predicted it.

Zanku was happily surprised. "I prefer it this way too," he said, blocking multiple kunai thrusts and just missing his thigh. He rolled to his feet and watched his opponent's eye carefully, watching it spin at a slow, lackadaisical pace. Kakashi bounced on his toes before settling into another stance. He didn't give the Shinobi time to adjust, greeting him in a match of agility, cunning, speed, and perception.

"Like your Teigu," Kakashi said, "the Sharingan allows me to read every move you will make, copy them, memorize them, and make them better, but it can do so much more than that."

"The Sharingan… yes, I've heard of it somewhere, but I don't know where from. In fact, when I was younger, I remember hearing about a fighter that looked just like you, tall, spiky white hair, except he didn't have what you had. Well, in any case," Zanku chuckled giddily like he was receiving a present, "don't just tell me! Show me!"

Kakashi spun in the air in a whirling sidekick. "Dynamic Entry!" he announced, expecting the hard block to the kick and impending stab to the knee. Kakashi caught his wrist and fell back, throwing Zanku into the railing by the river. Zanku hopped to his feet both dazed and excited, dodging the two kunai attached to string thrown on either side of his head. He caught the strings and yanked the Shinobi forward, parrying the forward stab and catching Kakashi by the back of his head. Zanku cut straight down the back of his arm and expected the back kick that would have nailed him in the groin. Kakashi whipped around and tossed a shuriken attached to a string at Zanku's face. Zanku leaned back but wasn't fast enough to escape it wrapping around his neck. "Think you've seen enough?" Kakashi taunted, throwing Zanku over the side to hang him.

Zanku looked down at the river a few stories below, laughing maniacally all the way. "We're just getting started! I hope you can swim, I wouldn't wanna lose you to the fishes!" He jabbed his blade into the wall and yanked the blade, whipping the light Shinobi into the water. Except he didn't sink. Blood from the earlier cut made the water around Kakashi red, but it wasn't the Shinobi who was worried. Zanku watched, clearly, the ninja stand on the water and perform a series of quick hand signs his Teigu just barely kept up with. "What the _fuck_!" he laughed. "That's _fucking_ terrifying!" He threw himself up into the air and back onto the road, looking down at the rapidly ascending Shinobi jumping over the balcony and over his head. Zanku leaned back as Kakashi's fingers scraped the Teigu and his arms shot forward, nearly skewering him if it wasn't for the blocking kunai. "Oh, you're damn good, you're _really_ good!"

Kakashi whipped Zanku around, which wasn't much for the executioner's weight. Kakashi greeted him again both soaked and pissed, and Zanku could tell from the new ferocity of each strike. Zanku chuckled and bashed him in the temple with the butt of one blade with such force the ninja saw stars. "Do I get a 'compliment from the batshit crazy bastard' award?" he asked, hopping back and putting one hand on the handle of his sword. He didn't use it that often, but with Zanku growing more and more desperate with each strike, he might need to increase his range a little.

Zanku bounced forward with an intricate blade routine, ready to finally dice his opponent. "You'll be beheaded quickly and painlessly!" Kakashi tossed his kunai and flipped over Zanku's head, pulling another kunai out and stabbing Zanku deep in his shoulder as he dodged the first kunai. The ninja caught the blade and whipped around, predicting the jump over his strike. He jumped as well with his sword drawn but the executioner was sufficiently higher. He looked up at the presently surprised and bleeding executioner in a suit and collapsed into smoke as the blade cut him and his blade in half. Zanku laughed until that point, trapped and despaired worry twisting his face into a confused grimace. "An illusion?" His Teigu frantically searched around the bloodied cobblestone for the real assassin and veered upward, seeing a falling Shinobi perform multiple handsigns in the air.

"My predictions are better than yours, and faster, there's no doubt about it," Kakashi said from behind the executioner and stabbing him in the back, "unlike me, you can't predict movements you've never seen before." Zanku roared in pain and whipped around, missing the Shinobi by a longshot as he landed on his head, slicing his forehead. Zanku dropped one blade and grabbed Kakashi by the ankle, slamming him face first into the ground. Smoke enveloped him once again as the second smoke ninja vanished. He jumped above the smoke, seeing the last Kakashi end his hand sign sequence as he hit the ground in horrifying anticipation. "It's over! Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique!"

Zanku gasped in terror with a splash _from_ the river. "Just what the hell are you?! Why won't you die?!" He looked up at the sight completely awestruck, watching the great white shark formed entirely of thick water leap over the size and swim through the air with its long, jagged teeth and wide mouth open just for him. Zanku tried stepping back but was immediately greeted by excruciating pain in both feet. He looked down, seeing Kakashi's blade staking his right foot and the blade he dropped holding his left foot in place. "You were supposed to warn me!" he snapped at his own Teigu. "I cannot lose now!" he laughed. "There are so many heads I need to take with me!" He let out an enraged roar and heard what sounded like a thousand Teigu's warning him to duck or block or run, but by the time his premonition turned him to listen to the voices in his head they fell silent. The shark barreled through Zanku, beheading him like he stuck his neck in a bear trap and crashing into a streetlamp in a watery, bloody mess. The streetlamp shook violently with the impact and the bulb inside the glass subsequently died with the noise. Kakashi quickly collected all weaponry on the ground or stuck in bodies, including Zanku's blades, and fastened those under the sheathe on his back.

He lifted Zanku's dripping head, his final expression a contorted twist of hilarity and terror. "You poor bastard," Kakashi muttered, removing the Teigu and strapping it around his wrist.

"Kakashi!" Tatsumi's voice shouted from down the cobblestone road over the growing clamor from the other direction. It took the town guard long enough, but they finally figured out it was time to do their job. Kakashi quickly covered his eye and turned toward his hobbling companion walking with Lubbock and Mine. Leone and Bulat stood on either side of Akame and Sheele led the ensemble with her Teigu ready to chop off Zanku's head. "Where's Zanku? You didn't let him get away- holy _shit_!"

Kakashi held up the man's head like a trophy before tossing it aside and rushing up to them. Bulat laughed heartily and clapped Kakashi's back with a heavy hand. "Damn good show! This'll be a hell of a story to tell the boss, nice one, little bro!"

"He was a Teigu user too…" Sheele said. "Why are you wet?"

"Let's make sure we get home first," Leone said, flipping off the guards arriving too late onto the scene.

"Assassins!" they shouted, charging toward them with lances drawn. Akame moved to the front of their crowd and drew her sword, stopping them in their tracks. The guards recognized her, very well, and deliberated for a bit amongst themselves. "This way!" they shouted, turning around and jogging away.

"You have my mask, Tatsumi?" Kakashi asked, seeing all of Akame's wounds bandaged but she still moved with a slight limp from the shin slashes. "Once we get back to the hideout, I'm going to recheck your wounds."

"Thank you, but Sheele used to work as the head nurse in the Empire's battleground infirmaries," Akame said. "I'm just glad everyone is alright, unless you're just putting on a brave face."

"No, I'm alright," Kakashi said, taking his ANBU mask and putting it back on once again, "just take it easy, okay?" He turned to Lubbock and handed him several feet of soaked wires. "These saved my ass."

Lubbock laughed victoriously. "Aha! See, Mine? These _are_ pretty useful."

"It obviously didn't save him from nearly drowning," Mine spat.

"I mean I couldn't snark my opponent to death like you could," Kakashi said, "some of us just lack that level of smartass."

"She's unbeatable at that," Tatsumi said dryly.

The team shared a collective laugh of relief and returned to the compound, with Kakashi and Akame lagging behind. She asserted she could walk on her own, but Kakashi had dealt with injuries like those. They healed quickly, but it was a bitch at first. "If you don't mind me asking," Kakashi said, "while you were stuck in the illusion, you said-"

"I'll tell you about it when I'm ready," Akame cut in, although sounding soft and regretful instead of hard and bitter. She looked up at him and squeezed his hand again before continuing her walk. "Just know that I cherish everyone in Night Raid with all my heart, including you and Tatsumi." She hastened her pace as they approached the hideout, seeing the lights inside turn on as Najenda acknowledged their return. "Get some sleep. You and I are up in four hours to make breakfast."

"You got it, don't go picking fights with the kitchen utensils, alright?" Kakashi hung back from the group, slipping into the bushes and summoning another clone to take his place. " _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ ," he whispered, patting it on the shoulder and sending it out. He shrouded himself in the darkness and hid among the forest leaves, stopping a little over a mile out of the hideout by a rushing river. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small scroll, rolling it out on the banks. He made the ritual hand signs and tapped the center of the runed scroll in an ancient variant of kanji with his thumb. Out of the resulting smoke cloud came a small, big-eyed brown pug puppy wearing a tiny blue flak jacket and forehead protector that was barely too big for his head. It weighed him down a little just from standing, and the tiny bandages around his legs didn't help with his 'fierce ninja dog' look. The puppy's tail started wagging as he looked around, expecting to see the training grounds and Might Guy somewhere nearby. "Hey Pakkun!" Kakashi whispered, letting the worried and disoriented pug hop into his arms.

"This isn't Konoha," Pakkun whispered in a high-pitched, childlike voice. "Where are we?"

Kakashi tucked all the vital information he had absorbed over the past few weeks in the first letter to the Hokage under Pakkun's jacket. "We're in the Empire, northeast of the Land of Fire by 450 miles. I need you to bring everything in that jacket to the Hokage, got it, little buddy?"

"Northeast of the Land of Fire, 450 miles," Pakkun repeated to himself. "You can count on me!" He stood up on his hind legs before saluting to his owner, taking off alongside the water rushing toward the oceans. He hopped on the stream and faded into the night as a mini-speedboat. At that rate, Kakashi would get a response in three days. In the meantime, he'd have to keep up the ruse.

"Kakashi?" Akame's voice called from the forest overlooking the banks. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just watching the lovely stream," the ninja lied.

Akame frowned and stepped out, pulling the Shinobi to his feet. "You're a bad liar."

"Well…" Kakashi blushed and pretended to zip up his fly. "Lubbock and Tatsumi were using both bathrooms."

Akame blushed and pushed him away. "Ah, my mistake."

Kakashi chuckled. "Oh, don't worry about it. What are you doing out here?"

Akame unsheathed her blade and knelt by the river. "I clean my blade here. Would you like to sit with me?"

Kakashi was wet, cold, needed to investigate Zanku's Teigu and clean his wounds from earlier. "Sure. Can I change first?"

Akame's small but cute smile popped onto her face. "No."

Kakashi sighed. "Also fine," he said, sitting next to his partner, comrade, and friend under the moonlight, knowing that across the water all of his friends are seeing the same thing with a doggy bomb on the way. When the infantry comes ashore, all bets are off, but explaining this to Night Raid would be a hassle. He would have to wait for the right time to tell them.

 **REVIEW WITH YOUR THOUGHTS, PREDICTIONS, SHIPS, HAREM BUILDS, YA BOI IS OUT.**


	5. Kill the Teigu

"Watch where you point that thing!" Kakashi exclaimed, hefting sixty pounds of petite dresses on his back as Mine fired at pursuing guards from behind in broad daylight. She almost hit his mask, damn his face, he'd have to pay a hefty fee if he lost his ANBU mask in the line of duty. "Some people might get the wrong idea!"

"Just keep running!" Mine spat, firing at the guards' feet. She wasn't going to kill them.

"Why didn't you just return the items? If you didn't have enough to pay for all of it you should have just asked!" Kakashi shouted.

"The cashier didn't see the extra pair of leggings, I thought they were all paid for, I triggered the alarm, cashier lies to cover his ass," Mine explained, out loud, again, "how hard is that to understand?"

"SO YOU JUST TAKE THE CLOTHES."

"Throw down one of your stupid smoke bombs and get us out of here," Mine dismissed, running into an alleyway.

Kakashi fumbled in his pocket for a moment and gripped a smoke bomb, lighting it in his pouch. He pulled it out and whipped around, throwing it down as the three guards raced into the alley after them. "Stop right there!" one man with a British accent barked, stopping cold in front of the field of smoke.

"Oi! Rupert! They're gone!" Cecil shouted. "Oh, bloody hell, Rory! They're not in the smoke, that's the whole point of it!"

"Shut up, Cecil!" Rory shouted, slicing and hacking at the smoke. "Maybe I'm just venting out my frustration!"

"Oh, well," Cecil said, "carry on!"

Kakashi and Mine made it back to the compound, breathing hard and hearts pounding, with Kakashi still holding Mine's mountain of clothes. "I got all of them," Kakashi panted.

Mine eyed him suspiciously and sniffed one of the tee shirts. "It smells like smoke."

"Smoke bombs do that," Kakashi said bluntly.

"Eh, C-plus," Mine graded harshly, walking inside. "Leave them on my bed, will you?"

"You're welcome," Kakashi said, walking in after them. He waved to the rest of Night raid, Tatsumi testing out Zanku's eye as he passed. He walked into Mine's room and dropped the clothes, wiping his hands off of all the store perfume before heading back into the main hall. Tatsumi sat on the ground, chuckling with a blush while holding his head.

"Hey, Kakashi, try this on," he said, "this Teigu didn't work for me, in fact it was just a big headache, maybe since you killed Zanku, it might like you more."

Kakashi held the eye in his hand, examining its shape, feeling its weight. "You mean it has some kind of bonding affinity?"

"Nerd," Mine teased.

"Your spirit must align with it for it to work properly," Najenda said, "the better aligned it is, the more powerful you will be when you use it."

Kakashi activated the eye by simply holding it. Lubbock and Bulat were impressed. "Well that's interesting," Lubbock said, "put it on, tell us what you see."

Kakashi hoped it would work. It would give him an excuse to keep his other eye uncovered. He slipped his mask down and placed it over his Sharingan, the green lense of the glass now brown. He looked up at Bulat and had to wipe his eyes in disbelief. There he stood, completely naked, his bulge growing the more Kakashi looked at him. Yikes. Kakashi turned and looked around the room, seeing all the busty femme fatales in just their bras and underwear. If he hadn't gone through ANBU training, he might have passed out.

"Well?" Najenda asked, her voice piercing his head and making his knees wobbly. "What do you see?"

Kakashi yelped in pain as it felt like someone had kicked him in the throat and right between the eyes. "I don't think this is the one for me," he said, taking it off and handing it back to Najenda. She seemed a bit disappointed.

"Well, another one for the collection, I guess," she sighed.

"Say, which one is the most powerful?" Tatsumi asked. "It's the one that belongs to that ice witch, yeah?"

Najenda's face went white at the mentioning of her ability. "We cannot say for sure, but evil attracts evil."

"Do you think there could be one that could bring back the dead?" Tatsumi asked, this question seemed far more personal and hopeful than the last, but losing his friends hit him hard. The assassins looked at each other, waiting for one to put it to him straight.

Kakashi had seen it far too many times. He clapped Tatsumi on the back. "They're gone, Tatsumi," he said flatly, executing the grin on the hopeful, spry lad's face. "We all have one chance in life, even the most powerful reanimation spell only lasts for so long."

The hall was silent for a moment, watching Tatsumi's fists ball up at a short-lived dream dead in front of him. "I- well-" Tatsumi smiled painfully. "I guess it was foolish of me, to think that they could-"

"Honor your friends by avenging them in combat," Kakashi said, pulling out a kunai and stabbing an imaginary opponent in the air, "that's all you have to do."

"Speaking of combat," Najenda said, "Kakashi, I need you to head into Knottshire and contact our informant with news of the attack on the New World's coasts a week ago." She smirked at him knowingly. "Apparently, forces ambushed the arriving fleet, 300 Imperial ships, gone."

There was apparent astoundment around the room. Kakashi would give Pakkun his "Boss, how would they have known?" Leone asked. "The Teigu of the fleet admiral keeps their whole army shrouded in a storm up to the enemy shores!"

"It's like they had someone on the inside," Najenda chuckled, "I could only imagine Esdeath's face when they sent three hundred back in chains, their entire ship run by clones."

"Clones?!" Bulat laughed. "They're magic?"

Najenda watched every bead of sweat roll down Kakashi's forehead. "That's what Kakashi is going to find out."

Kakashi stored his kunai. "Then I'll be out. I'm getting some Japanese food on the way back."

"Italian," Leone corrected.

"Italian," Kakashi said, seeing Leone wink at him as he left.

The other women looked at him in awe. "How did you get him to just… change?" Mine said. "He's the most stubborn-"

"He likes me," Leone said triumphantly. "I'm just waiting for him to get the balls to make a move."

Kakashi rolled his eyes as she said it loud enough to be heard just before he closed the door. He did like the opportunity Najenda gave him, however. Being alone this way allowed him to use the full extent of his capabilities. He disappeared into the trees and reappeared an hour later at the gates of the town square, meeting a sweaty, shifty, helmetless guard holding a brown scroll. "Dudley," Kakashi said, his voice making the spy jump.

Dudley nodded and marched down the path, diverting through a hidden trail to a dark clearing. Kakashi dropped to his feet, his red eye glowing in the darkness. Dudley's body trembled in fear. "You're the guy?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Holy shit, you're that Hatake boy," Dudley chuckled nervously. "You have a Sharingan too, no wonder the boys back home call you the copycat."

"The scroll," Kakashi said pressingly.

Dudley tossed him the information. "Picked this up off your dog, he'll be back soon, hopefully with some reinforcements."

"Reinforcements?" Kakashi asked.

"A couple of Najenda's eyes in Konoha think you might need a little more help," Dudley said, "against Esdeath."

Kakashi thought otherwise. "Tell them not to come, I don't need any of you getting in my way."

"It's too late for that," Dudley said, hearing a horse-drawn buggy race toward the town. "Look, I have to go, but just use that info well." He saluted the Shinobi. "A couple of good men died for it."

Kakashi bowed to the spy. "Their deaths will not be in vain."

Two smoke bombs went down, and Kakashi reappeared as a local walking through the town, looking for an Italian restaurant. He found a fairly posh place called "Piccola Italia" and sat down at the bar next to the reservation podium in case one decided to eat in. Two burly, black-haired men in aprons greeted him. "Benvenuto, whaddya want today, we got the best Italian food in all of Knottshire and we'll treat you like we do our food-" the men pounded fists and opened them up into falling spices. "-with gusto!"

Kakashi chuckled at the demonstration. "Perfect, I would like ten orders of your recommendations for a new customer, fatelo piccante per favore."

"Aye!" the owners shouted, laughing at his spot-on Italian. The owners happily gave him two thumbs up. "Sal and Tony in the back will give ya the best, how ya doin?" they asked, pouring him a glass of wine. One wrote down his order while the other kept him company at the front. It reminded him of Konoha in the way that the owners were proud enough of their work to be there and bask in their success. "Long day?"

Kakashi thought back to the past 12 hours. He killed a politician, then his bodyguards on a boat, found out that politician was a double because a revolutionary croaked about the plan, killed the frog, found the real politician, slit his throat, went back to the compound, learned how to use a sniper rifle, did not use said sniper rifle and hit a corrupt puppet leader of a geographically crucial area, trained with Leone after she beheaded a double agent-great friend-then went shopping with Mine, all before five. "Yeah, you know, life."

"Oh, definitely," he said, "I feel you on that something ugly, my friend." He extended his hand. "Name's Luca, brother back there's Giovanni, we built this place offa making deals and friends, you already got yourself a deal so tell me a little about yourself. You don't look like you're from around here."

Kakashi smiled through the mask. "Just moved here from the old country with a couple of friends, I thought, here, I'd get a fresh start."

Luca chuckled. "Yous and I got a lot in common, what do you do for a living?"

The sound of the politician that personally burnt a woman clinging onto her child begging for his life while a kunai dragged itself lazily across his neck rang in the Shinobi's head like a chime. "Odd jobs, I think here they say-" The image of him cracking a noble's jaw with a hammer and pinning him to the wall with a nail for crucifying more prisoners flashed across his mind. "-'handyman.'"

Luca nodded attentively, pouring himself a glass. "I respect it, I respect it, you ordered a lot for just yous and your buds, you guys got a family here housing you?"

"A very nice couple hidden in the countryside," Kakashi said, "I'm doing jobs for them right now," Kakashi said, remembering how he nearly hanged Zanku over the bridge that one night. "Until I find work, that is."

Four waiters with heavily detailed dishes on heated plates rushed toward the tables while Giovanni himself came out with two bags for the food. "Get home quick, while it's still hot," Giovanni said with a smile.

"Hey, cut it out will ya?" Luca said, sipping his wine with the ninja. "We're talking about things."

"My bad, Luca, I didn't know," Giovanni said, clapping his brother on the back.

"You know," Luca said, trailing off with his eyes darting past the ninja and widening. He pushed himself back from the bar. "Not that little bastard again, robbing in plain day, where are the guards?"

Kakashi turned toward the commotion and saw a young man a few years younger than he was with a thin, wiry mustache and blonde hair slinking through the small shops and swiping money from unsuspecting customers. He figured Najenda would have something for him soon, so he'd might as well warm himself up. "I'll be back," he said, leaving the hefty payment for the food on the table.

Luca took the pouch confused. "You mean you're going to catch Pickpocket Peter?"

Kakashi borrowed a fork off the table as Peter started running from three incompetent, slow guards down an alley. "How much is a fork?"

"30, why?" Luca asked, his jaw dropping as Kakashi whipped it and nailed Peter to a wooden street post. Kakashi added an extra thirty and darted across the street. Peter got a single look on the Shinobi before everything he stole was back to where it should be. Peter took the fork out of his shoulder and looked up, straight into the Shinobi's glowing eyes.

"These people struggle and fight just like you, kid," Kakashi said. "You don't have the right to steal from them, educate yourself, and fight against the people who put you in this situation, got it?" He punched through the wooden boards with ease. Peter's pants were warmer. "Now get out of here before the guards show up, or worse, I lose my patience."

Peter swallowed nervously and nodded, taking off into his secret path back into hiding. Kakashi slid back to the restaurant to two awestruck brothers. "Why'd you let him go?" Giovanni asked.

"Putting him in jail this young would only make him bitter and resent the people he steals from more," Kakashi said, "I gave him a chance to grow, if he can't do it himself then the constant paranoia of having me around will keep him in line."

"You said you did odd jobs for a living?" Luca asked.

"I have to leave," Kakashi said, waving goodbye to the nice owners and rushing out of the village before anyone else could ask any questions to a ninja toting bags that smelled heavily of pasta. As he traveled he read the scroll from Pakkun: "Total domination. Enemy never saw it coming. Ice still appearing around the east of the Land of Fire but several scouts have been sent to investigate."

Kakashi walked back into the compound proud of his pet and sometimes best friend, seeing only Leone in the main hall. She smiled and ran up to him, pecking him on the cheek. "So thoughtful, I didn't expect you to go through that much just for me."

"Where is everyone?" Kakashi asked, getting whisked outside again with his dinner waiting for him inside.

"They were all called," Leone said, "so were we."

"Where are we going?" Kakashi asked.

"There's a brothel not far from here that takes women suspected of having ties to the rebellion and breaks their mind, it happened to one of my childhood friends and I've been itching for the chance to avenge her in death, if not in life," Leone said bitterly, leading him to the slums of Knottshire. "Just thinking about what they've gotten away with just pisses me off. Our target is everyone inside, they're all in the prime minister's main circles and we can't afford to let any of them get away."

They approached the hidden, two-story building that reeked of alcohol and hashish, even under the mask Kakashi felt suffocated. Two bouncers watched Leone twist her hips toward them, in her beast mode her womanly attributes were accented as well as her muscles, claws, hair, and glowing eyes, in Kakashi's eyes she and the rest of the assassins with their Teigus were the best examples of drop-dead gorgeous. "I'll stay out of your way then," Kakashi said, fading into the shadows and darting through the alleyways to the back where two large wagons filled with giggling, drugged up, scantily clad women in cheap, fake kimonos too zoned out to notice their shifty drivers tied up and unconscious right in front of them. Kakashi wiped his hands of their filth and cut the horses free. He picked the locks to the back and slithered into a kitchen of the dive. All the men were in the front of the bar. They made it all too easy. He whipped eight Shuriken at the back of their necks, but before they could land, their heads rolled off their bodies. Kakashi stood up, fastening his ANBU mask over his face in a way that blocked the smell best, seeing the bodies drop and Leone crush the pleading leader's throat with her hand-paw. Leone's face was hard and remorseful, but she didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Let's go, we're meeting with Sheele and Mine in the town square immediately for a cross-target sweep," Leone said.

"A cross-target sweep?" Kakashi said. "Is that how Night Raid double-checks itself?"

"Exactly," Leone said, running with him through a path shrouded by overhanging trees.

"You know, Leone," Kakashi said, "that was touching, seeing you feel for your friends, even after all this time."

Leone scowled. "Well, he had it coming."

"Even as an assassin," Kakashi said, "if you lose your passion, you lose yourself, you will no longer be the person you were before you picked up the blade- but you know that already."

Leone remembered hearing it and internalizing it from the strong woman that taught her how to fight. "I'm not ashamed of how I feel," Leone said, "I just thought I'd be happier when I finally slit his throat." She laughed weakly, to herself. "I guess it makes sense. It didn't bring her back."

Kakashi knew that type of pain in spades. "When you want to talk about it, I'm here for you."

"Aw, you're so sweet," Leone said, burying his face in her breasts with a wrap-around hug. He'd been nothing but doting to her and the whole group ever since he happened upon her scam many weeks ago, and they felt as lucky to have him as he felt to have them on his side. "But we can't talk about that now. We have to find Mine and Sheele before something happens-"

A bright flash brighter than the sun swept through the valleys and forests and illuminated the area as if it was day, blinding the two assassins for a brief moment. They fell back but quickly rose to their feet, facing the center of town. "What the hell was that?" Kakashi asked, following the Beast Mode assassin toward it as fast as his legs could carry him.

"It's Sheele's trump card," Leone said worriedly, her golden eyes wide in concern. "She might be ditzy, but she knows what she's doing when she's forced to use her ultimate technique in a public place like this." She broke it down for him eloquently. "They're in deep shit," she said, realizing he wasn't responding because he was already gone. Her concern was put at ease a bit but she didn't slow down. "I just hope we're not too late."

Kakashi bounced on the tree tops shrouded by the night and looked toward the center of the light, grimacing at that young auburn-haired guard with the white dog damage sponge of a Teigu racing toward a heavily bleeding Sheele. Mine kept the surrounding fifty guards at bay with blasts that pulverized trees and obliterated statues, but her focus was on the twenty-foot-tall, muscly brown dog with its mouth wide open and ready to chomp down on her companion. She too was injured pretty badly, with several long, deep gashes in both legs. She would bleed out too without proper intervention. "Run, Mine! It's no longer your fight!" Sheele shouted, holding the dog's mouth open with her scissor Teigu, knowing that she was merely buying time. Kakashi looked down at the site, his partner lying in a pool of her own blood, pale from the loss with a gaping wound in her side. It was clear if she didn't get treatment soon, she would surely die. He blinked and he was no longer over the center of battle at hand, but one that shaped who he was for the rest of his life. On the cold, wet, hard ground laid the dying body of a brown-haired, innocent-faced young girl no older than 14, tears strolling down her cheeks but a strong smile on her face as he remembered it, or at least how he wanted to remember it.

"Kakashi?" the girl said with Sheele's voice.

His mind raced as fast as his breaths, fumbling to find the words to say to her while he had time. "Rin, I-"

"Kakashi?" Rin asked again, her voice louder and more forceful.

"I didn't mean to-"

"Kakashi!" she yelled, snapping him back into reality. He stood over Sheele, crawling toward him and shaking his leg to make sure he stayed alive. "I cast the trump card to keep you away! It's too dangerous here! Get out!"

Kakashi's eyes turned into venomous slits, his Sharingan raging, but all concealed behind the mask. "Not without you."

"Her Teigu is impenetrable," Mine shouted from the other side of it, firing as many holes through its body as she could while the dog owner aimed the metallic component of her arms at the assassins. "Nothing you can do would get past it, we need to hold out until Akame or Bulat get here!"

Kakashi flipped back and threw multiple smoke bombs down, shrouding the area in gray clouds, his darkness. "Sheele doesn't have that kind of time." He landed and like a shark smelling blood he was on the ground, sword drawn, a killing machine. He sliced a man's stomach open and pulled out the intestines, choking out another guard with it while his sword stuck out through his chest and impaled another soldier. He continued silently like the cold hitman he was meant to be, cutting open ribcages and whipping two ribs into a charging man's eyes. Kakashi threw a human heart at a man's face and followed with a kunai, nailing him to the wall behind him looking up in fear as the blood pooled in his eyes. Kakashi rolled in between a guard's legs and castrated him, whipping his balls into someone's temple with an explosive tag that went off upon impact, turning ten into dust. Mine slowly lowered her gun at the sudden terror amongst the guards, getting caught in the splatter of a man whose head got split in half. A Shuriken attached to a thin wire hit the tree trunk just above her head and was yanked back at electric razor speed, beheading three guards.

"Alright, let's get started!" Leone exclaimed, leaping into the melee next to the blood-soaked, entranced Shinobi dancing and gliding his way through seventeen more kills. "To try to minimize the injuries, I'm taking Mine away from the battle site, can you manage?"

Kakashi stared through her as he snapped another guard's neck and used his body as a meat shield for other attacks.

"I'll take that as a yes," Leone said, "focus on killing the Teigu user, then worry about Sheele, you'll be able to focus a lot better without that bitch and her dog!"

"I'm not leaving Sheele," Mine determined, trying to wrestle out of Leone's grip, but even she knew that was pointless.

"Your hands are shaking, Mine," Leone shouted sternly, "what if you killed a bystander or Sheele because you were too dizzy to keep your head up? I'm returning for Sheele and Kakashi if there's time, but I have to get as many of you out of here as I can!"

"I'm going to get her out as soon as the opportunity," Kakashi replied with deadly determination, kicking a head into another guard's nose, snapping it and letting the blood spray. His senses went into overdrive and he leaned back, letting the dog chomp in the air and not him. He whipped around and screamed in rage as the beast sailed toward Sheele. He completed four handsigns. "Earth Release: Multiple Earth Style Wall!" he exclaimed. Four walls of hard rock jutted from the ground, forming a small pyramid around the weakened Sheele. Kakashi threw an explosive kunai in the beast's back and darted toward the girl with green guns for hands. He could tell when she was going to fire and tracked it to dodge, although some misses were closer than others even with the explosion in the back making it harder for her to see him.

"You again!" she shouted with glee, retracting her guns and producing hands again. "I hoped I'd get to see you once more before you died, you got me pretty good last time, but the light of justice always pierces the darkness!"

Kakashi engaged her ruthlessly, appearing above her as a black and silver flash with a ruby eye. "I wouldn't call modern age Imperialism justice," he said, flipping toward her with a spinning kick.

"And assassination is?" she argued, blocking his onslaught of strikes for as long as she could. They exchanged strikes to the cheek and flipped back. "I, Seryu Ubiquitous, will trade your soul for those you've stolen from the Empire!" She drew her sword and Kakashi drew his, the two falling into stance.

Kakashi glanced back at Koro slowly regenerating and the mud prison held around Sheele. If he didn't end this soon, Sheele would surely die.

"Pay attention to the fight at hand!" Seryu snapped, stabbing him through the chest. Kakashi looked down and back up at her, shrugging before bursting into more smoke. "Wait, what the hell?" She turned around by instinct and just barely blocked a downward strike from another Kakashi. "So that's your Teigu? Making clones?"

Kakashi was silent for a moment. He had to answer this very carefully, lest other friends or foes were watching. He decided not to answer at all. "You'll find out after you're dead," he said, greeting her orderly, neat European sword fighting style with his wild, expert-level survival based ninjitsu that checked her technique on all counts. He rolled between her legs and opened up multiple gashes in her shins before rising up, cutting grooves into the back of her armor. She barely ducked a beheading slash and thrust upward, thinking she finally hit him. She blinked and instead of the Shinobi there was a tree and a hard kick in her side.

"Koro! Bulk up!" Seryu shouted, holding his foot and opening her arm into a gun that shot wildly in all directions. Bullets grazed the side of Kakashi's head and shoulders, but she was too focused on her dog to aim properly. Koro roared and leaped toward the Shinobi, but Kakashi didn't have time to die. A well-placed shot in his hip made him roar in pain. It only pissed him off.

Kakashi yanked her toward him and started running toward Koro. He leaped forward and started spinning, taking shots that grazed his thighs and pierced his technique was something he was grateful for having Gai around for. "Front Lotus!" he exclaimed, spinning like a bullet into the dog's grinding, gnashing gullet. Kakashi let go as soon as he could feel and smell Koro's hot breath and bounced off Koro's head, flipping around and completing another series of hand signs. He drew as much breath as he could in his lungs and released it in one powerful burst. "Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Seryu held onto the front of Koro's spinning, razor sharp teeth and pulled herself up in a rage from his stomach, looking up and swallowing at the house-sized fireball coming down on them to roast them alive. "Koro! Bulk up! Bulk up!"

Koro howled and bulked up again into the brown form Kakashi found him in, closing his mouth and taking the brunt of the force directly. "Now's my chance," Kakashi said, whipping a kunai tagged with a flare in the direction Leone went. He dived toward the ground as the impact struck, rattling the whole forest around him like they were at the epicenter of an earthquake. "Earth Release: Hiding Mole Jutsu!" He slipped into the ground like water and tunneled under the mud prison Sheele waited on bated breath in, pulling her under as the dust settled. "Sheele, are you still with me?"

Sheele merely looked at him pained and let her head roll back.

"No, no! Shit, shit, don't you die on me, this is nothing for someone like you," Kakashi spat, hearing her slow, shallow breaths. He ripped part of his flak jacket off to further add compression to the wound, but it wouldn't be enough without stitches. He held onto her tightly and burrowed as far as his Chakra would let him go. He clawed his way out of the ground in front of the compound and held Sheele in his arms, ignoring the dizziness as he barged his way inside. He cleared the table, setting her down as carefully as he could. He ripped open her dress to analyze the damage and nearly gagged. Multiple ribs, crushed or fractured, multiple torn ligaments and snapped muscles, and four holes on the front and back bleeding like stuck pigs. This would require a lot of stitches, with something that could hold bone together. He paced the room quickly, washing his hands and pulling out multiple flash bomb tags. "Stay with me Sheele, you can do it, just-" Sheele groaned in pain and her eyes began to roll back. "Count to 200, go until I say stop." He carefully peeled the super-glue end of the tag and split it into smaller chunks, sticking it to the bone fractures and pushing the bones back together over Sheele's loud whimpers. "I know, I know, just-" He pieced the last of her ribs together and plugged the bite wounds with gauze pads from the small first aid kit attached to his thigh. "Stay with me. You're stronger than this, stronger than the rest of the assassins here, come on, damn it!"

"Get out of the way!" Lubbock barked from behind, rushing into the room and half throwing the Shinobi aside. Najenda, Tatsumi, and Akame filed in after him, staring at their friend in horror. "Why the fuck would you bring her here instead of a hospital?" Lubbock shouted.

"If anyone Imperial even sniffed in our direction, they would draw the rest of us in and skewer us!" Kakashi snapped. "It's safer here!"

"What of the target?" Najenda asked, seeming unusually cold and callous at first. "Lubbock, do you think your infinity strings can put her back together?"

Tatsumi was still angry over her first question. "Sheele is dying and you're asking about the mission? Does this not affect you at all?"

Akame slapped him across the face while Lubbock and Najenda worked on keeping Sheele alive. "Of course it affects her, idiot!" she said with tears, remembering times in the past where they didn't come in time. "You think it's easy remaining that calm? What would flipping out in hysterics do for anyone?"

Tatsumi had to get over the shock of another friend at the brink of death, he guessed. "I-" he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I just got scared for Sheele, it reminded me of Sayo and Ieyasu and my promise- I should have been there."

"Your mission was just as important," Najenda said, keeping Sheele's head up and letting her bite on her arm while Lubbock pieced together her sliced veins and arteries again. "Sheele knew that this sacrifice would possibly choose her, everything else is out of her control."

"Don't just dismiss me, boss," Tatsumi argued, "shouldn't we hunt the bastard who did this and slit their throats-"

"If Sheele died," Najenda interjected, her stare icy and unforgiving. "Would killing another bring her back?"

Two more pairs of footsteps alarmed the high-strung party of assassins. Leone and Bulat ran in with Mine over Bulat's back. "Thank god you made it," Bulat said, "Leone got me to come back and save you but you and Seryu were already gone, everything was on fire!"

"Did you kill Seryu?" Mine asked, seeing her pale friend's unconscious chest rising and falling, barely escaping death.

Kakashi balled up his fist around his "surgery" kunai, but quickly dropped it. "If she got away, then no."

Mine exploded. "For all of that pain and misery she put us through, you couldn't drive a stake in her?! You sorry excuse for an assassin, she nearly killed Sheele and you let her walk? We should have never let you in here if you give up this easily."

Mine caught glares from all the other assassins, but Kakashi didn't get riled up. It wasn't worth it. "It was either kill Seryu or save Sheele," he said, his black tomoe spinning giving Mine the creeps. "If I wanted to, I would have brought Seryu's head back with me."

"Then how did you get away?" Bulat asked. "We found a hole right in the center of the square where the fire started, there's no way you would have escaped that explosion if she caused it."

Kakashi reached into his side pouch and pulled out multiple explosive tags. "She shot me multiple times, Koro lunged at me so I threw her in his mouth, followed with a couple of these for good measure," he said, wincing as he reached into his hip and yanked the bullet out. "Tagged Koro like a dartboard, it's just hard to gauge how much damage that thing can take while you're getting shot at. The tags went off, and, I guess, lit some of the surrounding trees on fire. While their ears were ringing I grabbed Sheele and high-tailed out of there." He pulled out a tiny sponge from the kitchen drawer and shouted in agony, plugging the wound. "Next time we see Seryu, I assure you her life and her Teigu will be mine."

"Mine is correct about one thing," Najenda said, keeping her frosty demeanor as she and Lubbock carried Sheele toward her bed. "You had a decision to make: save a life to keep them from dying today, or kill another to keep many lives from dying tomorrow. You weren't ready for her to die, no one is, but be mindful of that next time- if the enemy allows it."

Kakashi had been scolded like that numerous times. It still stung, despite it being true. "I will, boss."

Najenda nodded affirmatively to him. "Tend to your wounds. Sheele won't be able to take a job for at least two weeks, Lubbock will check on your hip and we'll see how you feel in the morning."

Kakashi's dealt with worse. "I can work immediately."

"Good," Najenda said, her voice returning to its darker tone. "Esdeath is returning to the Capitol."

Akame dropped her plate and glass shattered everywhere at the mentioning of it.

"She took her Three Beasts with her and they have all been reported alive coming from an acquiescing village in the New World," Najenda continued. "From our reports, they call themselves the Hidden Mist Village- they're already lending three of their best to accompany them."

Kakashi had to hide his shock. "They're bringing back people who fight like their opponents so they can develop a better strategy."

"Or maybe they suspect there's one among the revolutionaries," Akame suggested, driving a cold chill up the Shinobi's spine. No, he thought, that couldn't be it.

"That thought ran through my head, but Esdeath isn't going to trust their capabilities nor their true alliances so easily," Najenda said, "in ten days, Esdeath's top subordinates are holding a party, out in the open sea on a cruise ship for a masquerade party for one night and one morning, isolated."

"A trap," Leone said, "they must really think we're dumbasses to think we'd fall for-"

"We're springing the trap," Najenda said, "Leone, you will spy on Esdeath, just get a gauge on her feelings- Tatsumi, Kakashi, Bulat, you three will attend the party. Draw them out, kill them. There's a ledger on one of them detailing the attack pattern over the course of the next three months here and abroad, as soon as we know that we can counter them at any point in their campaign. If they keep the Hidden Mist Village, then they can spread throughout the New World and turn this into a defensive war. We need to keep things as difficult for them as possible so that we can catch up in our ultimate goal of taking down the Empire from the inside."

"Why don't we just kill the Prime Minister directly and be done with it?" Tatsumi asked.

"There are too many variables," Mine said, "including Esdeath. It's annoying, but it's the best way to go about it."

"Agreed," Kakashi said. He would see how much Najenda knew about these three guest ninja. "Any other details about our opponents we should know about?"

Najenda hid a smirk from the ninja. "These Hidden Mist operatives, Shinobi or ninja, however you may call them, are extremely dangerous, if we're to go by the trouble they're giving the Empire. Just one can kill 50 men, others are magic or can summon demons."

Mine rolled her eyes. "Like anyone can do that without a Teigu, come on!"

"Don't underestimate them," Bulat said, "but still, I'll take them down."

Kakashi could only hope. "Were there any names?"

"Just one, out of the three," Najenda said, looking directly into the Shinobi's eyes as she said it, "Zabuza Momochi."

* * *

 _Ten Days Later..._

Kakashi left packing until the last day, merely putting a tuxedo suit and dress shoes into his backpack along with his important ninja toolkits for the trip in two hours. He zipped up the backpack and looked into his window, seeing Leone's reflection in the glass with that sultry stare. She locked the door. "Ever since our last mission together, we haven't found any time alone," she said.

"I have to prepare for this trip, Leone," he said, feeling her chest crush his back.

"Don't tell me you don't want to do this," she said, biting his ear, "this may be the last time we have together in the compound, alone."

Kakashi looked down and part of him was starting to be swayed. "Sheele's still around, what if she hears us?"

Leone giggled. "Actually…"

The door swung open and Sheele carefully walked into the room. She had thin, nigh-invisible stitches on her side, he could tell because she was only wearing her stockings, heels, bra, underwear, and glasses that gave her this innocently sexy, aloof stare on top of her voluptuous seductress body. "Leone, what did he say? Does he have time for this? You both have a really important mission you need to prepare for and you don't have much time left."

Leone threw Kakashi on the bed and activated her Teigu. "It's just a little stress relief," she said. "Close the door. This won't take long."

* * *

 **KIRIGAKURE ENTERS THE WAR? SHEELE ENTERS THE HAREM? WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED FOR? WHO COULD THE OTHER TWO KIRI-NIN BE? A CLASH BETWEEN KAKASHI AND ZABUZA ON A BOAT CAN'T BODE WELL FOR OUR HERO, FOR THOSE THAT HAVE SEEN THE SERIES AKAME GA KILL, WILL OUR THREE-MAN SQUAD RETURN AS A DUO? FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON KAKASHI GA KILL**

 **I KNOW THE FIGHT WAS SHORT BUT BETTER FIGHTS ARE COMING**

 **SHOULD I DO THE LEMON OR SHOULD I JUST JUMP STRAIGHT INTO THE NEXT MISSION**

 **I CAN DO BOTH**

 **BUT EH IDK**

 **WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK**


	6. Kill the Flowers (Lemon, skip)

**SHORT LEMON BC PLOT TOTALLY K THANKS**

"Look, guys, we don't have time for this," Kakashi said, rolling off the bed and continuing his packing. "We may die on this mission, as with every one, this is not the right time to be-" He looked out the window and gasped as Leone pushed herself into his back, making sure as hell he felt her hard nipples prodding him. She licked in his ear playfully, her giggling at his loss of willpower as he shifted uncomfortably in his pants.

"Then why are you hard?" she asked, turning him around to face her and Sheele. "Hey, Sheele, come look!"

"I won't ask you again," Kakashi said, "there is still so much I need to do right now."

"Remember what happened the last time you were angry at me in a situation like this?" Leone continued teasing, ripping through his pants and revealing his nine inch steak knife, thick and veiny with a bulbous head.

"Oh wow…" Sheele gasped, carefully stroking it and marvelling at the girth. She undid her bra and slid out of her panties, displaying a pair of round, bouncy, and perky breasts above a pert, toned butt that jiggled a little when Leone slapped it. Sheele gasped and leaned forward, accidentally swallowing his rod with little difficulty and crushing it with her tight, gagging throat.

"Whoa!" Kakashi exclaimed, backing up against the wall as she continued at a furious pace, slurping and licking with a sloppy, seemingly random pattern that made him drool.

"Meet Miss No Gag Reflex," Leone said. She peered out the window and grinned mischievously, dragging them to where he was leaning against the window with his shaking arms as Sheele rolled her bumpy tongue across his red head like a brush. "That good, huh? She's dripping down there…" Leone chuckled and bent Kakashi over, spreading his buttcheeks apart. "You ready? Just relax, it's easier if you let it happen, but I love it when you tense up."

"Ready for-" Kakashi yelped and froze in place, melting again for the third time in the past ten minutes as she stuck her tongue five inches deep into his anus, filling up every crevice with spongy, pink coiling and rolling. She dug her nails into his thighs as a reminder of who he belonged to.

"I want my milk," Leone said, pulling out and making him squeal with two fingers ramming his insides and twiddling around, "protein is exactly what Sheele needs to recuperate, you want her to get better, don't you?"

Usually by this point the man would have shot all his ammo, but his gun was jammed. "Sheele, move over, let me taste it."

Sheele slid him out with a pop and fixed her glasses. "Kakashi, you're enormous."

"And he's _mine_ ," Leone said triumphantly, opening her mouth and gliding him into her jungle of licks, purrs, and giggles that made her throat vibrate. Sheele licked up the sides and his balls when she could, but Leone was gleefully draining him like a succubus. Her head bobbed up and down into a blur with her Teigu activating and Sheele took the role of licking and kissing in and around his quivering ass. Kakashi made the mistake of looking down, seeing Leone's twinkling, golden eyes daring him to burst. His knees closed together and the unforgettable swell surged up his head. Leone slipped off laughing hysterically as she edged him further. "That was so dorky, you little shit, here-" She slipped him in between her heavy and soft tits with her tube top on to add extra force. "Sheele, start counting back from five."

"Mmph," she said, her face still buried in his backside.

Leone spread the opening to his urethra and licked it right down the center, making Kakashi moan with the hypersensitivity to the inside of his head, his shaft, and his butt. She puckered her lips and engulfed the head, driving her tongue against the entrance even more special than the back door. Sheele didn't make it to one before Kakashi cried out, shooting everything he had in her mouth. She gasped and slipped off, holding all of it in her cheeks like two balloons as he sprayed on her tits and over her face. She pulled Sheele toward her and kissed her deeply, holding her head as she released his cum into her mouth. Sheele pulled back and Leone spat several globs of it on her glasses and nose.

"Oh my god! Don't do that!" Sheele exclaimed.

Leone kissed her again while laughing. "Here, sit on his face, I want to get fucked."

Just saying that made him hard again. "You won't be able to spy on anyone at this rate," Kakashi said, kissing her body tenderly before rising to meet her lips. He pushed her onto the bed instead and slipped in, tingling all over at her squishy, bumpy, multi-textured vice of a pussy that coiled and moved him in and out like a vacuum.

"Oh fuck," Leone gasped, wrapping her legs around him and rolling over. She sat up and Sheele wasted no time in straddling his face. Kakashi was up to the challenge, performing figure-eights around her cute button of a clit and the middle between the outer and inner pinkness of her folds.

She leaned forward onto his chest, nearly falling over with Leone massaging her breasts as she rose up in a tugging twist and rammed hard back down in a speedy rhythm. "You're too good at this," Sheele gasped with her tongue out, playfully dueling Leone's and losing against the sex goddess.

"My Teigu puts me in heat randomly," Leone moaned, grinding hard with a blush as she squirted all over his stomach and thighs, "when I need dick, I find dick that I want."

"What if you have a boyfriend?" Sheele asked.

"He'll be either the luckiest or poorest guy in the world," she said, rising up and dropping in circles."How about it, Kakashi?" she asked as she locked her thighs on top of his as he gushed like a geyser into her welcoming womb. "Boyfriend and girlfriend- your turn," she said, spraying his spunk all over his body and sitting on his mouth and nose, "constantly dealing with _all_ of my needs?"

Sheele took him in facing away, her bumpy, hot, loose walls dragging up and down his dick furiously as she lost herself, bouncing and spinning in a way that made Kakashi buck to match her rhythm. "If you're not careful, after tonight he could be mine-" She and Kakashi screamed as she rose too high up and slipped off, came down and shoved him balls deep into her pale white ass. It was tighter and hotter than anything felt, spasming with his sudden entrance. "By the looks of it," she said, feeling him buck harder and faster than before as she squirted right out of the window. Kakashi followed moments later, stopping his own licks of Leone's sugary pussy.

"I'm coming again," Kakashi announced with a wince as his toes curled.

"Hop off, I want to taste it," Leone said, watching a sly, small grin spread across her face as she bore down onto him, making him shout even louder. He came and held onto the bedsheets, filling her to the brim.

"Oops," Sheele said, slowly rising off his hard-on.

"What was that for?" Leone asked.

Sheele simply laid back and spread her lips for her to lick. "I'm a klutz."

"Then I guess it's my turn," Leone said, rising to her hands and knees. "Don't waste my time-" She spoke too soon and paid for it, her tighter, hotter pussy absorbing him and pushing him out at the same time. Kakashi drooled on her fat, jiggly butt and she knew it, happily digging into Sheele's snatch with every pound that ripped meows out of her. Sheele's core shook with Leone's superb technique, sending her to places she'd never been before. Sheele and Kakashi cried out again as she popped both of them, and she came spectacularly after. "That felt good, didn't it?"

"I'm not done," Kakashi assured her, switching to her perfect pussy once again.

"I want a turn," Sheele demanded, switching Leone for herself as she eased herself down on Kakashi's girth. "Oh my god," she gasped, falling in Leone's chest as Kakashi couldn't restrain himself from jackhammering.

"I want to slow down," Kakashi panted, "but you're trying to suck my soul out with this thing!"

"I know, that tends to happen," Sheele admitted, lying on top of Leone and licking her clit while the lioness made the Shinobi squirm with a tongue on his balls and three fingers on his prostate. "Don't feel afraid to cum inside, I'm on the pill."

"I don't think I can help it- oh god-" Kakashi held onto Sheele's firm, apple-shaped ass hard and jetted into her with help from the predator's pumps. Sheele sat up and turned around, biting her bottom lip and holding onto his shoulders as he banged her into the air, pressing her chest onto his and screaming into his ear as she doused Leone below with another squirting orgasm. Sheele kissed him deeply before passing out, breathing hard and oozing with cum.

"Aw, she's all tuckered out," Leone said, rubbing him hard again with her beautiful breasts. "You think you have one more in you?"

"We have ninety minutes until we have to leave," Kakashi said, kissing her and pinning her down. This time he kept his strong grip, but he felt like she was letting him do it. "I'm going to have to punish you for distracting me like this."

Leone played along. "Oh am I? Give me all you got, try to break me."

Kakashi slid into her again and teased her, alternating between fast and slow bursts, pinching and rubbing her nipples, kissing and licking her neck and ears, making her groan and squeal louder with every passing second. "Are you ready?"

Leone licked her lips in anticipation. "I don't think you know who you're dealing with," she said, pumping up suddenly and dominating him again.

30 minutes later Kakashi laid on the bed with Leone, both panting hard and cuddling. "Did you like it?"

Leone giggled and kissed him on the cheek. "Can't tell you that, then you won't try as hard next time."

"Then let's get going," Kakashi said, sitting up and picking up his backpack. "We have a job to do."

 **NEXT CHAP UP SOON**


	7. Kill the Spies

"It's huge, bro!" Tatsumi exclaimed, marveling at the size of the cruise ship their mission was set in. The evening was foggy and gray, giving the red rocket resting on the calm and salty ocean waves a mysterious, looming presence.

"That's what he said," Bulat blurt out.

"What?"

"We made it," Bulat said, keeping his hair down and in front of his face, "remember to keep your eyes peeled for the 'visitors.'"

"What are we supposed to look out for?" Tatsumi asked, pulling at his tux suit collar. "What would they even look like?"

Kakashi wanted to laugh at the irony. "I would say that we'd know them once we saw them, but at that point we'd already be dead." He wore an eyepatch over his Sharingan and combed his hair forward and up in a neat style that he liked a lot. It looked more professional, a "Jounin's Cut" as his barber back home would say it. He missed his forehead protector and facemask covering his mouth.

They mingled among a crowd of other well-off and established bureaucrats bottle-necking toward the long ramp up to the deck, checking in with two mountainous men at the bottom of the ramp. It was crisp and cool outside, with calming sea winds blowing from foreign lands. Kakashi hoped that one of them carried the rising fighting spirit of his people. He reached the front of the line first, handing a fake ID card and ticket to the bouncers. "You're in," they said with a deep, British accent, shuffling him up the ramp. He reached the top to see a shorter, friendlier butler with a curly gray mustache handing out small eye masks. Every patron on the deck wore one, looking toward the raised platform in the middle of the ship at two men, one a tall, older European gentleman with long gray hair in a ponytail, and the other a tan, red-headed Japanese man with long, straight red hair, green tattoos in dashes up his cheeks, a round, tall figure, a giant meat cleaver of a sword wrapped in bandages, and common Shinobi attire with a blue forehead protector representing the symbol of the Mist, four dashes lines arranged like steam or rainfall.

Kakashi quickly put one on and watched the Shinobi carefully as he downed a cheese plate in a matter of seconds. "Fuguki Suikazan," he muttered to himself, looking around to find the other two Shinobi. He recognized that son of a bitch from the recent Shinobi war. "First Fuguki… then this new guy, Zabuza…" He walked toward the front of the ship, taking a plate of crackers and cheese among the hundreds of different entrees hot and ready lined on the railings. "So where's number three?" He turned back toward the platform and nearly jumped, bumping into a tall, muscular man with tan skin, spiky brown hair, and brown eyes filled with stoic indifference, and he could tell by a single look. "Sorry about that! Guess I'd better watch out, right?"

The suited man with cheese all over his suit looked down with hidden anger at the Shinobi frantically picking up what was spilled. "You got it on my tie."

Kakashi looked up again and smiled politely. "It was an accident. I apologize."

The brooding man with an ominous aura glared at him and would have crushed Kakashi's hand if he hadn't dodged just in time, crushing multiple crackers under his foot. Kakashi's grin faded into his natural, uncaring, blunt stare. "Do not do that again," was all the cheese-covered man had to say before turning from him, walking away.

He bumped into Bulat on the way back to the dancefloor, but Bulat was harder to budge. "What's that guy's problem?"

"Where's Tatsumi?" Kakashi asked.

"I told him to split up," Bulat said, "that way we can cover more ground. We're here to-" A noble walked by with a plate of food and quickly put a slab of the roast beef onto a perfectly made croissant roll, jabbing at it with a fork. "- _stab_ at these _Beasts_. Try not to _hit_ anything else! See you around!"

Kakashi stood up and made a new plate of food and started walking around again, keeping his eyes to his sides and on Fuguki as he waited for the trap to spring. The old man wearing a black military jacket and uniform called for silence among the chattering guests. "Welcome, welcome," he said, chuckling a little as the noise died down. "I'm glad to announce that Esdeath's efforts in _our_ New World have not gone unrewarded-my name is General Liver, leader of Esdeath's lead bodyguard squadron, the Three Beasts-and tonight I am proud to present to you the man from the Eastern front that is representing his land, that shook hands with our fair general and agreed to ally with the Empire in the name of justice. They call themselves the Village of the Hidden Mist, and here with us is the head of their Cypher Division, Sir Fuguki Suikazan!"

Fuguki laughed with the rousing applause. "It's good to be here, general," he said, "our village has sent its men many a time to battle the Land of Fire under our leader, the Fourth Mizukage, and after the third war, it's good to see that foreign lands see our enemies for what they really are. Enjoy tonight, enjoy the food, enjoy our victory. Thank you."

"Is he a ninja?" Tatsumi whispered.

"I thought they would look… different…" Kakashi said.

"He doesn't look so tough," Bulat said, "but let's not test that theory."

"What about Liver?" Tatsumi asked, hearing a pained laugh from the tank of Night Raid.

"Without him, I can't say that i wouldn't be where I am today," Bulat said, "he sided with the Empire, despite him teaching me everything, I had other plans." He started to walk away, slipping a white masquerade mask over his face as a calm waltz started to play from an orchestra below deck. "Let's make this quick, boys."

Everyone partnered up, with Tatsumi finding himself chest to chest with a blonde with curly hair, big green eyes behind a sparkling silver mask, and practically glowing with all the diamonds she wore. Tatsumi, the poor country boy, looked sick to his stomach as she prattled on about the "expendable" soldiers fighting her war for them against the "savages" in the New World. The dancers with partners moved into the middle deck to listen to the music better, leaving the masked Shinobi alone on deck with the only other woman without a partner.

"Whoa," he said to himself, seeing the tall, fair-skinned, slim but curvy woman with long, wavy scarlet hair that reached past her thigh with the top in a small bun, strikingly teal eyes under her white masquerade mask, pouty pink lips, and a buxom chest, all on long legs and blue heels in a blue dress. He walked up to her bravely, and extended his hand to the fierce woman. "May I have this dance?"

She looked down at his hand for a moment before taking it, as if she expected some kind of mousetrap to snap at her hand. "What is your name, please?"

Kakashi chuckled. "This is a masquerade party, you don't need to tell me yours."

"The rule doesn't need to go both ways," she said.

"The longer you wonder, the longer we dance," Kakashi said.

The woman pursed her lips in aggravation, but he could tell she was going to mine him for something, although he didn't know what. "Do you know how to dance? I will expect you to keep up, please."

More or less. "I'm an expert at what I do."

"We'll see about that," she said. They walked down the stairs together and entered a ballroom on a boat serving up even more food. She pulled him up toward the orchestra with a small, almost unnoticeable basket of ear plugs fit under breath mints. "It's pretty loud in here, don't you think?"

Kakashi saw through her game, putting them in. He noticed she wore a pair too. Who was she? An accomplice of Najenda? General Esdeath? Perhaps the third ninja? He looked over toward the crowd and she curiously did the same, allowing him to snag two more sets for Bulat and Tatsumi. "Yes but, I guess that's what you get when you have to play over the sounds of all the ego in the room."

She covered her mouth to laugh and pulled him through the dancefloor. He slipped the earplugs in on his partners as they talked and mingled, waiting for the trap to be sprung. They ended up in the corner of the room, staring at each other while waltzing, holding each other and swaying as they tried figuring each other out like a game of chess. "So, where are you from? You can at least tell me that instead of your name, please."

"Rinepeak, up in the Northern Territory, now part of the Empire," he said, "until a few days ago, I'd have to use a map and everything, Imperialism made my life a little easier. You?"

"Swinhelm in the Southern Empire," she said, "I bought out my father's cologne and perfume company and have full proprietary control over it."

"Congratulations," he said, "since you're here, you're making him very proud."

"Aww, how sweet," she said, "you know what they say, hard work is all you need- and a spouse."

"And a what?"

"You dance very well," she said, her lips spreading into a smirk, "but not like these other men- are you sure you're from Rinepeak?"

Kakashi chuckled. "People have called my dancing style unorthodox, but I've seen more than enough dresses to know that you didn't buy it here."

She laughed and pushed him playfully on the shoulder. "A playboy, a womanizer, oh please." Her alluring laugh settled down into a glare that would have torn him in half. "You're still too new to all of this."

Kakashi spun her around and dipped her, letting the chandelier cast a shadow over him. His eyepatch seemed to glow red under the mask, she noticed. "Try me."

Kakashi kept an eye out for the third Shinobi and Zabuza, until the sunset faded into night, dancing with this mysterious and dazzling woman that knew just as much as him as he did about her, absolutely nothing, or so they thought.

"Hello everyone!" a playful young man's voice announced in front of the orchestra, ringing a triangle to grab everyone's attention. He was short and scrawny with pale skin, blonde curly hair and golden eyes with a pair of fake black horns on the sides of his head and a devil's tail. "Thank you all for coming, are you enjoying the party?"

The resounding yes made him smile warmly. Kakashi noticed his pointed teeth. "My name is General Nyau, and to play you off tonight, I arranged a flute solo, just for you."

Kakashi glanced at the woman he sat with, seeing her hand slip onto her thigh tensely. Nyau started playing a slow waltz, and almost immediately whatever he was doing seemed to be working. Every unplugged ear's head rolled to one side and their eyes shut as they fell fast asleep, faces in plates and all. The three Night Raid assassins followed their lead with Kakashi laying on his back, seeing the figures of Fuguki, Liver, and a tall, burly man with long, wild golden hair with no pupils stride into the room as he closed his eyes to listen. Before he did, he noticed she stood up. The shrill laugh of an unidentified man, he believed to be the burly golden-haired man, filled the room. "Good work, Nyau, it gets funnier every time."

Nyau sighed. "Daidara, it's not meant to be funny, it's art."

"It's funny art," Daidara snapped.

"I will not have this," Liver barked, silencing them both.

"General, do you know where the assassins are, among these heaps of bureaucratic rubbish?" Fuguki asked worriedly.

Liver pulled Kakashi by the arm up onto the main deck. "I saw them as soon as they walked in," Liver said, "one of them being my own student, Sir Bulat. It's a shame they would die this way."

"It's dishonorable, _general_ , please," the enchanting woman scolded.

Liver rolled his eyes. "Fuguki, would you tell your subordinate what I've told you and others of your kind about speaking out of turn?"

"Why are you here again, Mei?" Fuguki snarled.

"To ensure this welcome deal goes well between you and General Esdeath," Mei said promptly, "you remember what happened to the last diplomat that sat in the same room as you and the other swordsmen."

Bulat couldn't help but laugh and Kakashi rolled out the smoke bomb, allowing the trio to walk out of the haze in full assassin gear. Kakashi kept his mask on this time, since he figured the chances of hiding what he was when the fists started flying were abysmal already. Fuguki's eyes widened at the mask, the markings, but especially the red markings. He settled into a victorious, smug smile as the Three Beasts filed behind him with Mei at his side. "Shinobi…" he said like a boa constrictor hissing at its next victim. "That mask, that specific design- I know you."

The assassins took out their earplugs and threw them to the ground. "If that was true, you would already be dead," Kakashi declared, drawing his sword and settling into an imposing ninjitsu stance.

"Incursio!" Bulat exclaimed heartily, summoning his nigh impenetrable shell of defense as well as his long polearm with a blade jutting off the end that gleamed in the moonlight. "Liver, it's been so long since we've gone at it!" he said, as if chatting with an old friend.

Liver drew a French rapier and assumed a fencing stance. "Yes, my shoulder remembers the last time you tried to kill me."

"So does my fist- you have a pretty hard forehead," Bulat said, "tell you what, drop Esdeath right now and I'll buy you a drink."

Liver scowled at the notion. "We are here to kill you, you know, but I can convince Esdeath to let you join our army."

Bulat spun the polearm around and stomped, shaking the whole ship and aiming his weapon forward. His demeanor completely changed, his voice cold and ruthless. "I don't serve under those I don't respect."

Daidara spat on the deck and revealed his long, Omega-shaped axe that split into two smaller axes. "Fuck this, I'm leveling up from this bastard!"

"Not if I can help it!" Tatsumi exclaimed, rushing in between them but getting thrown aside easily.

"Get outta my way, I'm done grinding low-levels!" Daidara laughed, charging blindly at the calm, collected, former Imperial powerhouse. Liver and Nyau darted forward as well to a collected, ready warrior that swept Nyau to the ground and smacked Liver aside with the flat end of his blade. Daidara's axe was still unguarded.

Bulat flickered a frown and let the blade come down on his shoulder. "I'm disappointed in you, Liver." He stood unfazed by the blow and grabbed Daidara by the head, lifting him up and squeezing. "Don't send your grunts to kill me," he said apologetically, crushing Daidara's wrist in his hand like a group of twigs. Blood sprayed at his feet and chunk of bone cracked and oozed under his fingers to a terrified remainder of opponents. Nyau gasped as his comrade was tossed aside like rubbish. "It only feels right that one of us or neither of us leaves this boat, by each other's hands."

No one wanted to move after that. Kakashi realized just how far he paled in comparison to the strength of Bulat, one wrong move against him was instant death, or in Daidara's case, permanent disfiguration. Liver stared in horror at his comrade screaming in agony on the deck until he couldn't scream any longer.

Nyau stepped forward to face the hulk of Night Raid but Liver held him back. "No, Nyau."

"But sir!" Nyau exclaimed in rage. "He injured Daidara! I must avenge this crime for the honor of Esdeath!"

Liver was just as unforgiving in his response. "Then kill Tatsumi. It will teach countrymen from raising a hand to their government." He pointed his sword at Bulat. "Hurry, he's coming this way."

Nyau gasped and turned toward Tatsumi, taking a slice right across his cheek. "Don't underestimate me you flowery son of a bitch!"

Nyau rolled to his feet and let out a battle cry, charging with his flute as if it were a shortsword. Liver and Bulat artistically engaged each other like a staged Wushu match, dodging and striking at just the right moment for an interception or parry. They were the best weapons masters in the Empire, and even the Shinobi were impressed, but their focus was on the Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf.

Kakashi stood in the center of Fuguki and Mei circling him like sharks and a bloodied seal. "Which village sent you here? Sunagakure? Konohagakure? Perhaps a Kiri-nin who disagrees with what the Mizukage is doing?"

Kakashi settled into a different stance, daring them to charge. "You really expect an ANBU to reveal anything at all while he's still alive, please!" Mei said. Her throat started to glow and burn orange and red. "We will get more out of him dead."

"Speaking of revelations," Kakashi said, "tell Zabuza Momochi he no longer needs to hang onto the side of the boat, and for the Shinobi trailing the boat in the water since the cruise started to come up, they're insurance for your life in case the three of us wore down the Three Beasts, and they would have kept to the sides of the boat to finish us off as soon as we thought it was safe."

Fuguki chuckled as Kakashi's predictions were true, a third tall, muscular Shinobi wearing an ANBU mask to cover his face rocketed onto the ship wielding a giant sword similar to a butcher knife with a neck-sized cutout in the blade itself. He wore a dark purplish-grey flak jacket, uniform pants, and sandals with bandages around his feet and ankles, a thin white scarf, gray fingerless gloves, and gray toeless socks. "Nothing gets past you nor that Sharingan of yours, right?" he said. Kakashi instantly recognized it.

"If this is about the tie…"

Zabuza cracked his knuckles. "You think my boss would be dumb enough to face the world's most infamous ANBU by himself? He brought me because he knew if and when we met, I'd be the only one who could take you down."

"Oh, really?" Kakashi said, feeling the fourth man crawl onto the boat. "Then why is he here?"

The last shinobi was also tall but a bit lankier than Zabuza, with smooth, blue skin, spiky dark blue hair, tiny, white, sunken in and beady shark-like eyes and gill slits on his cheeks going up under his eyes. His smile also reminded Kakashi of a shark's, jagged, soulless, and hungry. He wore a standard Shinobi uniform with a leather padded flak jacket in murky ocean gray with brown pants and Shinobi sandals. He gladly displayed his village's symbol on his forehead protector and shoulder pads, even the katana he drew had the four rain dashes etched into it. "To keep our business here our own," he said, his voice hoarse and sharp with a shrill overtone to it, "and you killing him gets in the way of me doing my job in keeping our village's secrets safe."

Mei and Zabuza stared at the shark man for a moment in awe. Even Kakashi had never seen anything quite like him. "I'm amazed," Zabuza said, "so you're the Tailless Tailed Beast?"

"You can have my autograph later," he said, glaring at the Konoha Shinobi with a bloodthirsty gaze. "You can sit back and watch if you want- this shouldn't take long."

Fuguki saw how unnervingly calm Kakashi remained, prompting him to warn his subordinate to keep his mouth shut. "Kisame! I don't want you to get carried away! You can't afford to fool around with this guy!"

Kisame nodded. "I am well aware." He turned back toward Fuguki and pointed his blade at him. "However, he's not my primary target."

Fuguki's eyes told he knew exactly why a second blade was pointed at him. "Then it all makes sense now," Kakashi said, "there were supposed to be three of you."

"Yes," Mei said, standing by Kisame's side, "but I killed him on the way to the rendezvous point."

Zabuza lowered his blade, as did Kakashi.

Mei pulled out a golden badge with the Mizukage seal on it. "Fuguki Suikazan, I am placing you under arrest for embezzlement and trading of Kirigakure secrets for personal gain."

"And if I'm not mistaken, aiding his mission, even unknowingly, is a death sentence," Kisame said, "I do not want to do this, but with Zabuza as his hired hand, someone's gonna die or everyone's staying out of my way."

"You all know my name," Zabuza said, "the Mizukage would surely kill me for that alone- none of you are leaving this ship alive."

"Breaking rank as an ANBU will also get you killed," Fuguki said, hefting his blade onto his shoulder, "and Samehada and I intend to deliver that full consequence."

"And you, stranger," Zabuza said to the Konoha ninja. "Where do your weapons point?"

"At my targets," Kakashi said, gesturing to the Three Beasts duking it out with Bulat and Tatsumi, "but for war crimes in the Third Shinobi World War, I'm in jurisdiction to imprison you all, but Fuguki specifically for attacking Shinobi after the armistice was signed."

Tatsumi, Daidara, and Nyau slid into the center of the Shinobi ring and hopped to their feet, eyeing them all suspiciously. "Liver has commanded us to kill Shinobi and spies indiscriminately," Nyau said, "including useless subordinates."

Daidara spat in Nyau's face. "If you think you're going to kill me, you have another thing coming."

Tatsumi stared at Kakashi's mask and outfit, quickly realizing the truth. "You're a Shinobi! You lied to us this whole time!"

Liver got tossed into the circle and Bulat strutted in after him. "Save our friend for last, we'll figure out his real motives after we take care of these guys."

Liver rolled to his feet. "Your Shinobi is a spy from the Land of Fire, sent to take us down, isn't it obvious?"

Tatsumi gasped but Bulat knew Kakashi better than to turn on the enemy of his enemy. "As long as his goal is putting you down, that's good enough for me."

Thus the ship fell into a tense silence, all ten warriors waiting for one man's patience to break. Bulat started to chuckle under his breath. "10 go in, say we're a pretty even match, one comes out," he said. He looked up at the sky, gray and misty but with a streak of hopeful blue in between the clouds. "So, who wants to start?"

* * *

 **IS EVERYONE A FUCKING SPY? WHAT IS MEI'S POSITION? WHO EVEN IS MEI? HOW WILL NIGHT RAID REACT TO KAKASHI'S TRUE OCCUPATION, IF BULAT AND TATSUMI LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO TELL IT? 5 NINJA, 3 OFFICERS, 2 ASSASSINS, 1 WINNER, A BATTLE ROYALE FOR THE MILLENNIUM IS COMING UP AND YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS OUT, WHO WILL BE THE LAST MAN STANDING? RANK:**

 **KAKASHI**

 **ZABUZA**

 **MEI**

 **KISAME**

 **FUGUKI**

 **TATSUMI**

 **BULAT**

 **LIVER**

 **DAIDARA**

 **NYAU**

 **FROM FIRST TO LAST, 1 BEING THE LAST MAN STANDING AND 10 BEING FIRST TO FALL AND POST YOUR PREDICTIONS IN A REVIEW!**


	8. Kill the Beasts

Daidara volunteered and stepped forward, launching a nasty scramble toward the center of the circle. Bulat picked him out again and tossed him aside while Nyau and Tatsumi resumed their dance. Liver and Mei circled each other, with Liver obviously bitter about her betrayal. "I always knew someone with a career as lucrative as a Kunoichi could not be trusted."

Mei whipped two kunai at him and lunged with two more drawn, engaging him in a fierce battle of blades. "You knew that, but you did not know that just blindly invading other lands could lead to world-class espionage? You shot yourself in the foot, please."

"We cannot even trust ourselves anymore," Kisame said, charging his boss's face with his blade drawn. "Not with two ANBU around, we can't."

Zabuza and Kakashi paced each other quizzically, absorbing each other's image before the mist settled in between them. Two kunai hit each other and both clones vanished into smoke, revealing the real ANBU agents fighting within the mist already. Zabuza noticed the glow in Kakashi's Sharingan and laughed expectantly. "So you're the copycat ninja… Konoha, huh?"

Kakashi and Zabuza traded kunai slashes across their masks and flipped back. Another Kakashi stabbed Zabuza in the back and Zabuza collapsed into water, revealing the real Zabuza that slit the real Kakashi's throat but then collapsed into smoke and exploded, taking the Zabuza clone with him. Zabuza gasped and whipped a Shuriken at a chair and the substitution technique was revealed. Kakashi caught it and spun it in his fingers. "What gave it away?"

"The Sharingan eye, the white hair, you and your friend Obito are something of a legend back home," Zabuza said. The two ninja charged again but Bulat and Daidara interjected, with Bulat letting out a deep roar as he cleaved Daidara in two and split the deck. Daidara's sides fell between the cracks and Nyau screamed, halting the fight. The nine remaining warriors circled again, pacing each other and waiting for another slip. They arranged themselves in threes this time: Tatsumi, Bulat, and Kakashi stood in the center while Nyau, Liver, and Fuguki stood off to one side, staring down Mei, Kisame, and Zabuza on the other.

"Split them up," Liver said, ordering Nyau's flute to his lips like a composer. A fast but melancholy piece played and his body began to morph in response. The boat started to rock as Nyau grew two feet and widened, gaining over 150 pounds of pure muscle.

"That's his Trump Card?" Tatsumi stammered.

"Don't fret it," Bulat said, his armor sparking and fading away into a set of green steel armor. Bulat combed his hair and drew two longswords sheathed in between the chinks of his armor. "That just means there's more of him to hit."

Tatsumi pointed at his armor in shock. "Bro! Your armor- Incursio, it's- it's-"

"That's the one drawback," Bulat said, "Every 24 hours Incursio needs to 'recharge,' I guess I miscalculated how much energy I was really losing." He sounded like losing it was like trying to walk with a stubbed toe, annoying but not crippling, as if essentially he wouldn't need it.

"I'd say things are unfair for you now," Liver said, raising his hand and the ring on his finger glowing purple. Several geysers of water rose from the oceans and morphed into the shape of a single roaring Western dragon. A second dragon, this one slimmer like the ones in the east, rose from the ocean and stared the other one down. Zabuza held his jutsu pose, controlling the Eastern dragon with his thoughts. "You remember my Teigu, yeah? The ocean is my playground. With two dragons and a man with no armor, how do you think this will end, Bulat?"

"Hey, time out!" Bulat said, flipping back and dodging the dragons crashing through the deck. He landed on his feet and welcomed Zabuza in the melee, blocking two sources of mastery with his blades. "What happened to everyone being out for themselves?"

Nyau let out a piercing battle cry and stomped toward Tatsumi again. Tatsumi rolled out of the way and Kakashi send a spin kick into Nyau's face. Kisame joined in the melee, slicing right across the Beast's stomach. It barely made a papercut.

Tatsumi rose in a spinning punch that sunk in Fuguki's fat face and whipped his sword at Mei. "What's your deal, lady?"

Mei let the slash pass right through her as she vanished into the mist, rematerializing behind him with a kunai thrust. Tatsumi yelped in surprise and threw her over his shoulder. He raised his blade ready to finish her off but she had other plans. "I'm going to borrow this," she said, using his hand as the second half of her jutsu signs and puckering her lips. "Yoton: Gomudama!"

Tatsumi hopped back, barely dodging a steaming ball of mud that made his face burn as it passed. "What is that made of, magma?"

Mei rolled out of Samehada and kicked Fuguki in the groin, doubling him over and allowing her to jump to her feet. "Smart boy, it's a shame you might not make it past tonight."

Tatsumi spat on the deck and charged again. "Yeah, I'll show you!"

Bulat took a slash to the back of his leg from Zabuza and Liver nicked his ear, both times splashing blood onto the wood. Bulat didn't feel any of it but he sure didn't act like it. He whipped around, thrusting so hard is stabbed straight through the flat end of Zabuza's sword and cut a perfect circle through it. "Holy shit," Zabuza cursed under his breath. "You know what I had to go through to get this sword? I'll behead you myself!" He swung down and Bulat turned around, blocking it from behind and cutting through Liver's blade with ease. Bulat's blade sunk through Liver's shoulder and through several ribs, clipping his lung and slivering the esophagus. Liver screeched in pain as blood spurted out from multiple places, but his wicked grin indicated that he had one last trick up his sleeve. Bulat crouched and guarded his face, Zabuza noticed the blood was suspended in midair and it crystallized like throwing darts.

The blood crystals flew at them with such force it poked dents in Bulat's armor like an RPG hitting the side of the tank. The crystals pinned his face like a dart board, almost immediately forming small, pus-filled infections that by the hundreds could be deadly. Bulat's sight grew dim and his shoulders heavy, but that didn't stop him. Bulat whipped around and cut through Zabuza, but the ninja was already gone. Bulat looked up, seeing the equivalent of a hurricane coming down straight for the ship. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" Zabuza shouted, crushing the assassin through all ten levels of the ship and stopping just before the attack broke the hull and sunk everyone. The last thing the panicked Kakashi and Tatsumi saw was Bulat staring up in awe, weathered from battle but nowhere near finished, gasping once before disappearing in a prison of water. Zabuza landed on his feet and let out a cry of rage, swinging his blade at the collapsing captain of the Beasts.

"Bulat!" Tatsumi roared, gritting his teeth and slipping in a cut on Mei's leg then rising again to stab Fuguki in the shoulder. He cried out in pain as the Samehada cut a deep, purple and black gash in his shin. He dropped to one knee and held up his blade, feeling his arms growing incredibly weak with each strike the sadistic info broker made upon his shortsword.

"Feeling tired, little man?" Fuguki asked, spinning around the grayish purple, spiked blade the size of a shark and with the texture of obsidian. "That is Samehada's special ability- any chakra you have is now mine, and considering you have close to nothing, you might pass out before I have a chance to-" He looked toward the center of the other Shinobi free for all and vanished into the mist as Nyau hit the deck, dodging the fireball that sailed over him. Tatsumi struggled to climb to his feet and stumbled at the chuckling General with almost no energy at all.

"You fool, can't you see this is pointless!" Liver shouted, thrusting his half of a blade at the younger, faster assassin. Tatsumi parried it effortlessly and with it came his hand. Liver screamed in agony and fell to his knees, holding his severed appendage in his other hand.

Tatsumi lifted the quivering Liver to his feet with the flat end of his blade and saw through Liver, seeing only the corpse that would remain. "This is for Bro." Liver saw a flash of steel then nothing as Tatsumi moved past him holding his ring, stowing it in his pocket for when, not if, he returned to headquarters. Tatsumi looked down the ten story crater left from the hurricane attack and his blood ran cold. "No, no way!" he shouted, gripping his sword through the shock and running toward the stairwells. Every step taken was heavier than the last, as if the Samehada was still actively draining his energy- chakra, as Fuguki called it- but he didn't think they were the same thing. Since Kakashi was a Shinobi living among them the whole time, he'd have more than enough time to explain the difference. He crawled to the staircase bitterly, his breathing heavy and slow, seeing the darkness of the stairwell blend with the blackness of his unconsciousness, but he denied the world the pleasure of seeing him fall.

Kakashi watched him slide into the lower decks. Nyau laughed and charged after him, but Kakashi had to keep Nyau off him if he was to get to Bulat alive. "The fight's over here," he said, coming down hard on Nyau's shoulder. They both ducked Samehada swiping at Kisame and hopped over a stream of lava aimed at Zabuza. Kakashi whipped several shuriken up Nyau's stomach, but the beast simply shrugged it off.

"You cannot pierce my Trump Card with these butter knives," Nyau cackled.

Kakashi performed a series of hand signs as the shurikens sparkled brightly, blinding the Beast. "I wasn't trying to hurt you, but the Lightning Beast Tracking Fang will!"

Nyau looked down at the lunging lightning German Shepherd and held out his arm in defense, his last mistake. The Shepherd bit down hard and what sounded and felt like the electric chair coursed through Nyau's body, popping his eyes out of his skull and letting the blood stream down his cheeks as he fell to his knees. The lightning dog vanished, but it served its purpose. "You left yourself wide open, ANBU scum!" Fuguki laughed, materializing in the mist and raising his special blade high above his head. Kakashi blocked his face from the second blood spray as Kisame's blade thrust through his back and stopped just before it cut through Kakashi's mask.

"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!" Kisame exclaimed.

Kakashi rolled back and jumped, landing on his back just as two thick, dense sheets of water crushed Fuguki with a loud squeal and a definite crunch of his skull flattened into a pancake. Kisame looked up at the Leaf Shinobi waiting for a response and simply searched the body, taking all information his old boss had on him.

"That felt good," Kisame chuckled, his voice sounding like a fork across a dinner plate, "and although I would love to stay and test out Samehada, I'm wanted elsewhere." Kisame took off his forehead protector and picked up a fallen kunai, striking through his village's symbol and tying it back on. From that point, he was no longer associated with Kirigakure.

"Then you're a double agent as well," Kakashi said.

Kisame hefted his new blade over his shoulder. "Of sorts. It's organized out of a smaller village, but they're going to change this world to one based on truth."

"Oh, so a cult?" Kakashi said snarkily, engaging him anyway. Every swipe of the Samehada blade could be his last, and with Kisame using it as if it weighed the same as a dagger did not give Kakashi confidence he could win this on brute force alone. Even near misses would sap his chakra, meaning he would have to finish this in one attack.

"Water Release: Five Feeding Sharks!" Kisame exclaimed, tapping the ground and summoning the water from Zabuza's hurricane attack to form five water sharks that chased Kakashi around the boat. Mei yelped in pain and dropped to one knee as Zabuza's blade lashed blood from her inner thigh and shoulder.

Kakashi jumped off the side of the ship and whipped around, performing a water jutsu of his own. "Water Dragon Bullet Technique!" His hand came alive with electricity and he stabbed his dragon-headed ballistic missile with his sword, surging lightning throughout. The bullet crashed through the five sharks and Kisame jumped just in time, but the sword was just another clever substitution. Kakashi darted upward and drew his fingers to his lips while preparing another jutsu. He pulled up his mask for this as well. "Gaton: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

Kisame grinned maliciously and the fireball seemed to wash over him, bathing him in orange and red. "Keep your eye on the clouds, Kakashi Hatake. We will meet again. This empire won't dare raise a hand against any Shinobi ever again, after we're through."

Kakashi's hair stood up on end as the shadow within the fire evaporated within the mist. His Sharingan spun wildly, searching for any trace at all of his foe, or possible ally. "Long gone…" Kakashi threw multiple kunai in the air in rage. "Damn it!" He landed on his feet and intercepted the fight between Mei and Zabuza. "Mei, did the Mizukage send you?"

"The Mizukage sent them," Mei said, "I'm just exploiting the system to bring them and the invaders to justice."

"One of them is dead, the other one is now a fugitive nin," Kakashi said, "a failed ANBU is a dead ANBU, and a foreign ANBU is an enemy ANBU, so tell me: who will you choose to kill first?"

The boat's hull shook violently, tossing the three Shinobi to the ground as the deck lurched to one side. "Neither, the boat is sinking," Mei said, "I'm going to get everyone out of here."

"You're going nowhere," Zabuza said, "if I'm losing my job because of you, then the least you can do is put up a good fight before you die." The mist settled heavily above the deck now, but Kakashi's Sharingan kept up with him as he danced in the fog.

"I'll finish this," Kakashi said, knowing the faster he took Zabuza down, the higher the chances were of him reaching his friends before another disaster struck.

"Whether you do or you don't," Mei said, "you might want to hurry, your friends are bleeding out as we speak."

Kakashi turned to her but she was already gone. Zabuza took the chance and lunged, but Kakashi was ready, stabbing Zabuza in the eye and beginning another round of catch the clone between them. Zabuza let another blade pierce him but he burst into an orb of dense, blue water, suspending the Shinobi inside it. The real Zabuza materialized from the mist and stuck his arm in the orb. "I got you now!"

Kakashi shrugged and Zabuza's eyes widened at the explosive tags all over the clone's body. Zabuza hit the floor as the explosion struck, dispersing some of the mist and tossing him aside. Zabuza looked up and gasped as Kakashi materialized out of the mist using the same jutsu. "You know, this is a pretty neat trick you use, but it gets old after awhile." He came down with a heel strike but Zabuza rolled out of the way, attempting to chop his feet off with a low swing. Both warriors rose to their feet and hopped back with Zabuza starting a long list of hand signs. His anger grew upon watching Kakashi mirror his movements, going just as fast if not predicting his next sign.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!" they exclaimed, summoning two twin dragons over either side of the ship. They sent the dragons at each other and threw kunai, trying to distract the other while Kakashi blocked a downward slash from Zabuza's blade. They released and hopped back, pacing each other while preparing another jutsu. " _The gall of this guy to-"_

"Copy your technique," Kakashi finished for him, stunning the Kiri-nin.

" _Did he just-"_

"Read my mind?" Kakashi said.

"I'll scoop out that Sharingan of yours and feed it to my dog!" they shouted, outraging Zabuza even more.

Zabuza performed the last hand sign but a line of sweat with a great chill made him lower his guard for a brief moment. He no longer saw the copy ninja, but himself, standing in front of a great, spinning torrent. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" Kakashi said, sending the torrent his way.

Zabuza looked up the same way Bulat did, seeing his own technique pummel him through all ten decks until he sat in a crater right next to Bulat's. Zabuza looked up and roared in pain as shuriken pierced his shoulders, stomach, and knees, mixing his blood into the water. Kakashi dropped and looked toward the other crater worriedly. A small tinge of relief allowed him to focus as Bulat and Tatsumi were gone, but the blood trail led back toward the staircase. They were going back up. Zabuza chuckled weakly and climbed to his feet. "That was stupid of you, using your ace in the hole early on," he said, "if you're going to use an illusion jutsu, at least finish the job."

"You should be thankful," Kakashi said, "you're the first person to ever experience the Sharingan on them more than once and live to talk about it, even though that might not be very long."

"If you called that a killing blow, you're sorely mistaken," Zabuza said, "the more I observe you, the longer I toy with you and your subpar ninja skills, the easier it is to beat you."

"There's nothing more boring than a braggart," Kakashi said, keeping his cool as a bloody, red mist fogged the area so much that he could see at most four feet in front of him in the cold, warehouse-like floor on the bottom of the ship.

"You know, for a minute you believed you could see the future," Zabuza said from nowhere, but Kakashi knew he was being watched, "you used your Eye of Manipulation to disturb me, then your Eye of Hypnosis to scar me, in sequence so that I could feel as if I was slipping by my own folly." Kakashi ducked a giant spinning shuriken and hopped over a sword slash, kicking and hitting something in the redness. "And I almost believed you, but that's when I learned to stay unpredictable when fighting you- something your Sharingan can't copy or track." Kakashi ducked three kunai and parried a sword strike from behind. "Therefore, this fog blocks both: if you can't see me, you can't copy me. If I can't see you, you can't manipulate me."

"That's a bit counterintuitive, isn't it?" Kakashi said, "you might be swordfighting a pole for all we know."

Zabuza chuckled. "I don't need to see you to kill you, neither do Mei or Kisame hiding in the mists above, even if Kisame's chakra blocks us from picking up on them."

Tatsumi and Bulat would be in trouble, if they made it to the top deck. Kakashi started to sweat. Masters of silent killing, both of them, ANBU were trained to locate a target solely from sound. Every step he made alerted Zabuza to his exact location. " _It's been awhile since I've been in this bad of a situation… now I'll really need to predict the future if I'm going to come out of this alive."_

Zabuza had yet to strike him, giving Kakashi a hint of a place he would have to let his guard down to protect.

" _Tatsumi!_ " Kakashi realized, darting five flights of stairs where Tatsumi trudged on with a fallen, slowly breathing Bulat on his back. "Duck!"

Tatsumi on instinct followed the suggestion, crouching in the mist just in time for Zabuza's blade to pass right over his head and slice a wide gash in Kakashi's side.

"I'm going to the top deck," Tatsumi said with a grave expression on his face. "Bulat needs some air and there are a couple first aid kits I found along the way!"

"Then go! I'll hold them off!" Kakashi shouted over the blinding pain in his side.

"Good, entertain me some more," Zabuza chuckled, "now that I killed your friend, you should have more than enough anger to compensate for your useless eye."

Zabuza vanished in the mist again but Kakashi had a plan. He pricked his thumb and completed a jutsu that spread black kanji in a circle around him before darting up to the top deck after him. He heard kunai clashing elsewhere, and the occasional shark of lava spew through the mist indicated that Mei and Kisame had waited for him or Zabuza to die, until they found each other. Ironic. Kakashi's Sharingan spun violently and he leaned to the side, just barely dodging the barreling blade thrust. Kakashi ran his thumb across Zabuza's forehead and kicked him in the shin to stop him long enough for the ground around them to break. Seven dogs of different breeds, including little Pakkun, shot through the ground and clamped down hard. Zabuza roared in pain as 14 rows of teeth sunk through his flesh, forming a second pool of blood around him. "You know what's funny?" Kakashi said, slowly walking toward him with one hand in his pocket, the other spinning a kunai. "You said you were unpredictable." He tapped his nose. "I don't need to see, nor _hear,_ you to keep up with you."

Zabuza looked down at himself, seeing all the blood staining his blade and sword, but it wasn't his.

"Ding ding ding," Kakashi said, "you're a fast learner, I'll give you that. My little buddy Pakkun over here can smell my blood a mile away, and boy did I stain you good." Kakashi raised his hand, and the sounds of birds chirping could be heard as the mist cleared and revealed the other ninja duking it out. Tatsumi kneeled over Bulat as he pulled him onto the deck. His face was blue and his eyes sunken in, pale skin, but not bleeding. Zabuza didn't kill Bulat, Kakashi believed, whatever was in Liver's blood rain must have pierced him more than he believed. Tatsumi's eyes filled with tears as Bulat's breathing slowed to nearly nothing and Kakashi's heart sank. There wouldn't have been time anyway. "I'm going to show you a technique of mine," he said, keeping track of Mei and Kisame bouncing about the deck, "it's something I've been working on for awhile, and it's one of my originals. You're too dangerous to be kept alive."

Zabuza couldn't wriggle free of the canines and for a moment he thought it was the end, but seeing Samehada nearly behead Kakashi was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Mei's sword cut Kakashi's leg, Kakashi's sword cut Kisame's side, and Samehada cut Mei's shoulder. They glared at each other and hopped back, all three of them performing hand signs.

"Lava Release: Rubber Ball!" Mei exclaimed, firing a second ball of steaming, molten lava with the consistency of rubber at Kisame.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!" Kisame shouted, firing the blue dragon at her yellow ball.

"Earth Release: Earth Wave Technique!" Kakashi announced, throwing sea sand in a crashing wave Kisame's way, destroying them both with an immense shockwave below the hull that tremored the boat. They lurched over to the side of the boat and held on for dear life, hopping back up into another jutsu clash.

"Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique!" Mei literally spewed out lava in a wide arc, making the boys run for their lives.

"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!" Kisame countered her lava with his water, using an immense amount of water to bring their clash to a halted beam struggle.

Kakashi jumped before being caught in the middle and started the process all over again. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" The ball hit the center of the clash, causing a second shock wave that hit like a grenade for anyone on the ground and intense, distracting ringing in their ears, which was exactly what Kakashi was going for. When the dust cleared, Kisame was already airborne leaping after him with Samehada drawn and Mei had completed her last hand sign. This time, the attacks were coming for him. All the while, the bird chirping grew to the point where even it could be heard over the ringing in their ears.

"Lava Release: Expanding Flame Rings!" Mei spat out multiple whirring rings of lava that passed over Kisame to bind Kakashi while he was stuck in midair.

"Water Release: 1000 Feeding Sharks!" Kisame exclaimed with a laugh, summoning a tidal wave where the peaks of the wave comprised of 1000 watery great white sharks, all swimming through the lava rings toward Kakashi.

Kakashi's hand came alive with lightning and bluish green mystical energy, the bird chirping now louder than the wave that crashed into the side of the ship. Everyone still on deck went airborne, with Kakashi, Kisame, Mei, and Zabuza suspended in the air in a straight line. Although Kakashi could die from the resulting three hundred foot fall into the ocean since none of them were no longer above the violently rocking ship, he couldn't have asked for a better orientation. "Chidori."

He sounded like a passing military jet as he darted through 1000 sharks, Kisame's side, lava rings, Mei's shoulder, and Zabuza's heart as one continuous bolt of lightning. Tatsumi held onto the railing, gripping for dear life with his other hand holding onto Bulat's fading life through his hand. "WHAT THE FUCK, KAKASHIIII!" he bellowed as the boat regained stability, flinging him and Bulat through the air and toward the coasts, following Kakashi and the other ninjas' flight paths after they all slammed into the side of the boat. The dogs held onto Zabuza's dangling body with their hardest bites, whimpering as they sailed through the air. Mei and Kisame were still in shock from the Chidori, spinning and twirling aimlessly in the air while Kakashi faded in and out of consciousness due to the blow from the boat. Tatsumi looked down and realized he didn't have much time before he was a pancake on the docks. Bulat groaned and looked up, feeling the wind rush through his perfect hair. "Bro!" Tatsumi exclaimed, feeling relief that he still had a little time. "It looks like I'm gonna see you soon after all," Tatsumi said with heightened worry and fear.

Bulat fought with all his power and drew his sword, placing it in Tatsumi's arms that struggled to hold Bulat midair. "Don't… don't give up… save your friends… save the revolution… save…" Bulat chuckled, gripping Tatsumi's arm caringly.

"No, bro, stay with me-" Tatsumi's hand wrapped around the long, extremely light blade that glowed red and gold as he touched it. "Don't you fucking dare leave me, bro! We need you!"

Bulat looked up at him and smiled, poking him on the forehead. "They need _you_ ," he said, "with all the fire in your soul… yeah, it likes you… it likes you even more than me..." Bulat smiled even brighter, seeing Tatsumi's aura turn red and his form start to change. "It's yours now," he whispered, poking him in the forehead as his eyes closed for the last time.

"No, bro! I can't! Not yet!" Tatsumi cried, tears of rage streaking down his cheeks. He turned to the shore and screamed, seeing that he would be the first to catch a face full of dirt. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Incursio!" his voice boomed through the sky, drawing the fading Shinobi of Night Raid's attention. Tatsumi's slim frame was now six and a half feet of solid steel with Bulat's lance intact and an otherworldly aura with the presence of a dragon. Tatsumi landed sideways on a building and placed Bulat's body on the sand. He jumped in the air higher than anyone Kakashi had seen, tearing Zabuza's body in half as he rocketed through the sky wielding Bulat's lance and Zabuza's giant weapon. All seven dogs yelped in fear and turned into smoke, returning to their place on call in case their Shinobi needed them again. Tatsumi caught Kakashi with the other two Shinobi around his neck, bounding off the ship and landing safely on the shore over Bulat. When the three Shinobi came to from sheer adrenaline, the kunai were out and a triangle formed among the three winners of the battle, but Tatsumi was having none of it.

Mei spat lava at the new hulk of Night Raid but it simply bounced off like it was water. Samehada didn't dent it either. Tatsumi darted forward with a new burst in speed, punching blood out of Kisame's jaw and kicking spit from Mei's stomach. They both saw stars and fell back, writhing in pain as Kakashi's mortally wounding strike finally took their toll. They both thanked god that Zabuza was his target, not them. Kakashi couldn't even see straight, everything was woozy and slow. He made his way over to Bulat, holding his head and feeling his pulse. He sighed, feeling a burning rage quench itself with years of self discipline training. Death was too good for Liver, since Kakashi couldn't deliver it. His blood felt hot, and he declared to sink every blow into the emperor's neck for his dear friend without saying a word, and any other hired Kiri-nin to get in his way. At first it was a job, and as Kakashi closed Bulat's eyes, it became personal.

"We all got our targets," Tatsumi said, his voice deeper in the suit. "We don't need to fight anymore." He walked up to the two Kiri-nin, raising his new twin weapons and aiming right toward their neck. "But that doesn't mean you get to walk away."

"Wait, Tatsumi," Kakashi said weakly, standing on his shaking legs. "I want to talk to them first."

"Are you crazy?" Tatsumi spat. "Bulat is gone, and if it wasn't Liver or Zabuza it would have been one of them- why should we give them mercy for what they've done?"

"Actually," Kakashi said, "if it wasn't for Mei giving me the earplugs before Nyau started playing, all three of us would have been dead a long time ago."

"And then they tried to kill us!" Tatsumi shouted, completely missing the point, but Kakashi understood his upset and unbridled rage toward anyone who laid a finger on Bulat during his last minutes of life.

"Tatsumi," Kakashi said, "they're here for the same reason I am, now that you know." Tatsumi turned to face Kakashi, seeing him holding a blue forehead protector with a symbol that the other two ninja recognized. "They weren't ordered to kill Bulat, Zabuza was. I'm nowhere near the trusting type, but they came personally to fuck with the Empire, just as we are. Maybe they can help us."

Tatsumi wanted to be angry, but Kakashi had seldom ever been wrong about decisions like these. Still, the fact that they were on that boat branded them an enemy in his book. "And what if they don't want to?"

Kakashi stood over them holding Bulat on his back and glared, also feeling the burning sting of their dear friend's passing in his eyes and nose like seawater. He'd fought Kiri-nin for years now, whether these two were disloyal or not, it didn't change the relationship between his village and theirs. As far as he was concerned, until they showed otherwise, Konoha and Kirigakure were still at war. Fuguki's actions solidified that. "Don't get any of it on my pants."

 **WINNER BY LAST MAN STANDING: KISAME, MEI, AND KAKASHI (TATSUMI CHEATED). WHAT DOES KAKASHI HAVE TO SAY TO THE MUTINEERS OF KIRIGAKURE? IF THEY TRY TO ESCAPE, WILL TATSUMI LET THEM LEAVE WITH THEIR LIVES? WHAT SECRET ORGANIZATION DOES KISAME REPRESENT? WHY DID MEI TIP KAKASHI OFF? HOW WILL NIGHT RAID REACT TO BULAT'S DEATH? WILL HE KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT, NOW THAT HE KNOWS KAKASHI'S TRUE PURPOSE AND POWERS?**


	9. Kill the Competition

"And you believe we can trust them?" Mine scolded, staring down at the two disarmed kiri-nin sitting completely bound by Lubbock's Teigu. "After attacking you _and_ Bulat on that ship?" Kakashi and Tatsumi dragged them back to the base and pinned them, taking their weapons. It took everyone to move Samehada- the handle kept stabbing them mysteriously. Zabuza's blade was simply heavy. Good thing was that they were more or less compliant. "I knew Tatsumi was thick in the head, but this is simply stupid, Kakashi."

"If you remember, the first time we met you guys, we tried to kill you," Kakashi said.

"But we know your prerogative, you're here to destroy the Empire, and _nothing else_ ," Lubbock said. Kisame and Mei looked up at Kakashi quickly. The rest didn't know.

"I can vouch for them," Tatsumi said, "they were here to stop Fuguki from giving away their village's information to the Empire."

"Haven't you ever heard of a fakeout?" Mine said, her anger growing not seeing Bulat among the warriors in the main hall. "These two are obviously here to gain our trust, Fuguki wasn't told that he was never going to come back alive. Bringing them here just put all of us in danger."

Najenda stood up from the leader's chair in the main hall, circling around them curiously. "Mine, please; I know you are saddened by Bulat's death, we all are, but we must not let that cloud our judgement," Sheele said, "let's hear them out before we kill them."

The captured Shinobis' faces went white. "Kill us?" Mei asked.

"I'd like to see you try!" Kisame snapped, wriggling around. "I'll kill the damn Emperor myself if I have to-"

"You've seen our base," Leone said, "unless you're signing yourself over to us, there's only one other way this is going to end."

"Now hold on just a moment," Akame said, "give them a chance to state their names, purpose, Sheele is right, we need to be emotionally strong if we want to win this."

"Boss, am I the only one here with my head on straight?" Mine said to the quiet, calculating woman running their troupe.

"I agree with Mine," Lubbock said, "invaded or not, their village is allied to the Empire and these two may be spies, it goes against their actions on the boat but a spy's job is to keep us in the dark."

"Luckily for them," Najenda said, raising a bloodied forehead protector with the Kirigakure symbol slashed through, "I know the mark of a deserter when I see one. Kisame, you'd better state your case quickly, I don't think my assassins trust you just yet."

Kisame glared up at Kakashi. " _You_ are taking orders from _them_?"

"Talk," Leone growled. Kisame bared his jagged teeth and rolled his eyes.

"I don't work for the Kiri-nin anymore," he said, "in fact, I didn't even know what Fuguki's mission truly was until I got on the boat. I'd been conspiring with the Seven Swordsman for the longest time, thinking that they too were just as fed up with our batshit leader as I was, maybe some of them were, but Fuguki… total government drone. Selling info, back and forth, to damn Konoha and Suna, even!" He started growling again just thinking about it. "To betray his comrades just like that, I knew there was only one way my work under him would end."

"Then you knew Zabuza too?" Najenda asked. "Was he on your side?"

"We talked for a bit," he said, "well, I did. He wasn't the very talkative type, except when discussing what to do about the Empire, or killing, I liked him somewhat for that. Shame that he was in it to get out in the end, he would have made a damn fine revolutionary."

"That or a terrorist," Kakashi said.

Kisame chuckled. "You wouldn't be calling him that if he were a part of Night Raid- a group of assassins dedicated to espionage and murder of high-ranking officials? Sounds pretty 'terrorist' to me."

Najenda scoffed. "We are doing what is necessary to save the people from starving and killing each other in the streets… as well as enslaving you and all you hold dear."

Kisame grinned, his teeth driving chills up Lubbock's spine. "You sound just like them."

Najenda got what she wanted. "Mei, what drove you to mutiny?"

"Unlike him," Mei said, "I am still a Kirigakure Kunoichi and will always be one, it is the Mizukage and his puppets who drag the name of my people through the dirt."

"As I understand it, the Mizukage isn't very liked, is he?" Najenda said.

"He's a tyrant being manipulated by something more powerful in the shadows," Mei admitted, "as to what, I'm comfortable telling you that I do not know."

"What will you do with that information, Mei?" Najenda asked.

"I will become Mizukage and turn it all around, for my people," Mei said, "you think I would risk coming here if I didn't think I'd get something out of it? Please! The Kiri regime is next after the Empire."

Kisame chuckled again unnervingly. "Damn."

Najenda looked up at Kakashi and at Tatsumi, nodding toward both of them. "I've heard enough."

Mine stepped forward, eyeing her boss down with broiling anger. "You are not seriously going to believe any of that, are you?"

"We will give them a trial period," Najenda said, flooring the five assassins hearing the Shinobis' tales. "It will be a rite of trust, just as the rest of you had to do when you joined." A sadistic, cold, dead glare hit Mei and Kisame harder than any jutsu. "They will receive an irreparable punishment for taking it for granted."

Mine slammed her hand down on the table. "They will kill us in our sleep?"

Najenda blew out a puff of smoke. "Then you are partnered with Mei."

Mine's ears blew steam and her face went red. "No. Way! I will NOT be in charge of-"

"Leone, you will be in charge of Kisame," she said, seeing the lion's snarl meet the shark's grin. "Try not to eat each other. You and Kakashi have spent quite the time together, and it is time for Kakashi to branch out in his synergic tactics with the other members of this team."

Kakashi blushed while Leone and Mine simply laughed, enjoying the redness behind the ANBU mask they could feel.

"Leone," Kisame said, snapping her attention fixed like a predator watching their prey. "It has been an… unfortunate trend of mine, I end up taking my partner's life sooner or later; I apologize in advance."

Leone cocked an eyebrow at her new partner with her laugh fading fast. "Great first impression, guy?"

"That goes for you and Tatsumi too, Mine," Najenda revealed with a sly grin. Mine's entire body radiated red while Tatsumi wanted to use Incursio to fade away. "Lubbock, untie them."

Lubbock stared at the two bound ninja and back at Najenda with concern. "I'm sorry, could- could you repeat that? Just making sure you haven't gone crazy."

Najenda's eyes narrowed angrily at her comrade. "Do I look crazy to you?"

Lubbock shrugged. "I mean, from time to time-"

"Cut the damn strings!" Najenda ordered, this time her command being promptly respected.

Kisame and Mei stood up, with Kisame feeling his neck. He turned to Lubbock. "These little fishing wires have a little bite to 'em, what do they do, besides tie up people who you're suspicious of?"

Mei walked up to the sullen, silent Mine, extending her hand in mutual respect. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

Mine glared up at the Kunoichi, seeing compassion and regret, two things that wouldn't bring Bulat back. "Hmph." She stood up from the table and half-stomped out of the hall.

"Don't worry," Akame said, standing next to Mei. "She will warm up to you, just don't do anything stupid, like betray us." She popped her blade out of its sheathe with just her thumb, allowing Mei to see the glint of her blade.

"Wait a moment," Najenda said to the dispersing haze of death. "I have news, some is not all that great."

All faces in the room turned toward her.

"First, ever since General Esdeath's return, rumors had been circulating of a new special operations unit to directly combat us, all of them Teigu users," Najenda said, "at first, we did not believe it possible to gather such a large pool of the Teigu on the continent here at once, but she did it. All we know is that they are out there, and another thing we need to deal with as the opportunity presents itself."

"A task force of Teigu users?" Tatsumi said, frightfully astonished. "Like an anti-Night Raid?"

"Day Raid," Kakashi said. "Night Guard."

"Shut up," Leone groaned.

"Is Esdeath really that bad?" Kisame asked. Every non-Shinobi's blood ran cold.

"She's an absolute lunatic," Najenda said, "no way should you ever take her on alone."

"Wait until she gets a taste of my Samehada!" Kisame said, pounding his chest.

"We should see her in action with another Shinobi first," Mei said, "before charging in is a good idea."

"Secondly, I will be traveling to the Revolutionary fronts to find our new recruits for the team," Najenda said, "by the time you see me next, we will have two fresh members ready and willing to fight to their last breath."

"At this rate we'll have to turn all of my bookstore into a base," Lubbock said.

"Finally, there is a martial arts tournament in the citadel arena in three days for those interested in the cash prize of 1,000,000 credits," she said, "Tatsumi, this activity could aid you in sending money to your village, although I implore as many of you that can join to join, as long as your face isn't on the wanted posters."

"Then in that case, it's just me and Kakashi," Tatsumi smirked.

"This could be a good test for our newest additions," she said, "if they are eligible, they join. You are dismissed."

Kakashi looked down and Tatsumi's balled up fists. "So what do you want to do?"

Tatsumi started bouncing on his toes. "I'm going to train."

"I'll be right behind you," Kakashi said, feeling the same bitterness. Maybe if he was faster, stronger, just better, Bulat would be here, now. "The next time Esdeath sees us, it will be her last."

Tatsumi clapped Kakashi's hand. "Either that or she'll drag one of us away, kicking and screaming!"

"Don't get ahead of yourselves," Najenda said, passing on Kakashi's side to move to the training field. She grabbed Kakashi's shoulder, squeezing hard. "Keep an eye on the Shinobi and Kunoichi," she said, leaning into his ear, "thank God I know what you are, or else I would have ordered Lubbock to decapitate you then and there."

Kakashi kept his poker face. "We'll take care of them, boss, don't worry."

* * *

 _Three Days Later_

Kakashi wiped the blood off his fists and looked around, his ears overwhelmed by the roaring of the crowds chanting his name. He stood on a white, round, concrete platform under the clear, blue sky and bright sun, surrounded by thousands of Empire-folk watching him beat the life out of a brutish Minotaur man wielding an axe in a huge arena in the center of downtown. He wore leather rags, as did all the warriors, covering whatever was essential to keep the fighters decent. Kakashi still opted to wear his facemask, claiming an illness- according to the guards, Esdeath found it rubbish, but she allowed it anyway. A covered VIP box shrouded with purple drapes jutted out of the North end plated in gold, where General Esdeath was watching the contenders mysteriously from her elevated platform. Kakashi glanced at Leone, Kisame, Akame, Mine, Lubbock, and Mei, hidden by robes and hoods that allowed them to blend in with any normal crowd. The Minotaur roared and charged again. "I'll chop you in half and feed you to my pigs! Try this!" he shouted, swinging his blade down. Kakashi sidestepped the blow and connected with a strong right cross that stunned the half-man. Kakashi slid forward and swept the Minotaur off his feet and onto his stomach, allowing the Shinobi to pin him with his hand in a nasty lock.

"It's over, Jinbei," Kakashi said, pushing on the man's palm the more he tried to stand. "Claim defeat while you still have a hand."

"I'd rather give up my hand then leave here without getting money for my children," Jinbei said, continuing to struggle. "You'll understand when you have them of your own, what you won't do to provide isn't even a question!"

"I'm not in this for the money," Kakashi said.

"That's enough!" a regal, booming voice shouted from Esdeath's chamber, a cold wind lapping the arena. "Kakashi wins this match and moves on to the finals to face Tatsumi the blacksmith!"

Kakashi walked off of the arena to the fighter's waiting room, where now only he and Tatsumi remained. Tatsumi chuckled, punching his shoulder. "I thought he had you for a second."

"Don't get too hopeful," Kakashi said, "I hope you've learned a few things after all those times I've saved your ass out there."

"I'll lay you out faster than you can spell 'I surrender,'" Tatsumi said, walking out to the arena.

"Maybe you should spell it for me first, since you're so good at saying it," Kakashi said, following him onto the bloodied platform again. "Give some money to Jinbei," he said, "he lives on the outskirts, like you."

"Ah, so you admit it?" Tatsumi said.

"I'd give you the money anyway," Kakashi said, bowing to his opponent and taking his stance. "I don't really have use for it any-"

"Mei said the new Icha Icha novel is out," Tatsumi said, silencing Kakashi entirely, his eye glowing red with excitement. "You lose, I tell her that you read it already and she'll spoil it."

"I'm going to kill you," Kakashi said.

"Kakashi and Tatsumi of the Outer Lands," Esdeath announced, " _FIGHT!_ "

Tatsumi put up his fists and bounced on his toes, preparing to use Bulat's preferred English boxing style to take out the Wing Chun of the ninja. He couldn't use ninjitsu or anything like what he used on the job. It would give him away. Still, Tatsumi blinked and his friend was gone. He gasped and looked up, seeing a black shadow with a glowing red eye descend upon him with lightning-fast strikes that he bobbed and weaved, returning a strong left hook into Kakashi's ribs. The Shinobi flipped back and reassumed stance, throwing a side kick into Tatsumi's stomach. "No fair!" Tatsumi shouted, throwing a shin kick that was blocked painfully. He threw a punch and the ninja crossed it, nailing him in the cheek.

Tatsumi bounced back, lighting the arena ablaze with the ultimate clash of the East versus the West.

"Wow, if only Sheele and the boss could see this," Leone said, watching flurries of fists and strong strikes keep the fight in the center of the arena.

"Bulat would be beaming," Mine said happily with a twinge of pain, cringing as Tatsumi broke the clash with a jab that sent Kakashi reeling.

Kakashi kept his red eye covered. He couldn't use that either, but he stood at the edge of the arena, waiting. Tatsumi smirked and ran forward. "I got you now!" he shouted, throwing a right cross again.

Kakashi slid out of the way and sent a harrowing knee strike into the young man's stomach. "Strong, fast, clever," Kakashi said, sending an elbow strike into his neck, "deceptive?" he continued, vaulting onto him and catching him in a chokehold with his legs, whipping him out of bounds. "That's what makes us good at what we do," he said, bowing to his opponent.

Tatsumi shook his head, looking down at the grass confused and disheveled. "W-what just happened?!"

"Kakashi is the victor, and _champion_ of my Empire!" Esdeath proclaimed, sending the crowds into an absolute frenzy.

Kakashi stepped off the ring and patted Tatsumi on the back, raising him to his feet. "You hit…" He rubbed the swelling bruises on his face and neck. "Really hard."

Tatsumi scoffed. "Yeah, well, you hit too many times!"

Kakashi laughed. "Maybe next time, friend."

"I will now come down to present you with your prize!" Esdeath announced. Seven guards rushed out of her platform, all from eleven to twelve feet tall and in royal blue, falling on their hands and knees.

"What are they doing?" Mei asked, seeing them arrange themselves a high to low pattern with their backs like steps down to the arena.

Akame watched the curtains open. "It's her way of asserting her power, a staircase of men."

Kisame chuckled. "What an interesting approach."

"I guess both of us will get to see what she looks like," Tatsumi whispered, "think all of us can take her out right here and now?"

"And get massacred by every guard within a ten-mile radius?" Kakashi said.

"I'm just joking," Tatsumi said, "she doesn't expect us to be here just as we didn't expect her to be-" The shades opened and the tall, laced, white-heeled boots of oppression walked down the staircase of subordinates, wiping strands of her knee-length, straight, shining icy blue hair out of the way of her sparkling jet blue eyes and pale face with a deceivingly innocent blush and cute, pointed nose. Her outfit was an all white army uniform with a white-buttoned skirt that showed a little patch of her thick, toned thighs and long legs, hugging every deadly curve on the dominator's bombshell body. She was tall and slender with an hourglass figure, a large bust that rivaled Leone's, a thin, black choker and white Axis Power hat with a black cross on it, tight black sleeves on her arms that frilled in the shape of snowflakes at the end, blue bangs that framed the sides of her face and a wicked smile that chilled Kakashi and Tatsumi to the bone, screamed evil. Taking one look at her soulless eyes indicated that as well. "Whoa…"

"Whoa what?" Kakashi whispered, watching her step on the last man.

"I thought bad guys were supposed to be ugly," Tatsumi whispered, getting an elbow from the Shinobi.

Esdeath's eyes widened in excitement for a brief moment, seeing the two sweaty, lean, young men waiting for her next move. "You both put on an impressive show," she said, her voice silky and serpentlike, reeking deception, malice, and hate but comforting and alluring all the same, "but there is always one champion." She approached Tatsumi first, reaching into her coat pocket for a small back of paper money. "The runner up prize, Tatsumi, is it?"

Tatsumi was sweating profusely, seeing Bulat's dead body every time his eyes met hers. "Yes ma'am," he said.

"Oh, a man of respect," Esdeath said, handing him the bag, her touch chilling his arm. "I like it when they know their place, either way, you did a decent job out here, proving yourself one of the best this country has to offer. Here is 1,000,000 credits, for your victories, and may your arms come to our aid when we engage with the enemies of the New World."

Tatsumi was too frozen in fear to say anything smart. "Thank you, ma'am."

Kakashi eyed the bag nervously. That was supposed to be the prize. He looked up at the alpha of the army, brimming with power, the black, dragon-like symbol just below her neck glowing red as she approached him. "As for you, I have a greater prize," she said, swiping his mask off before even his Sharingan could catch it. She examined his eye. "What a birthmark this is, you will do quite nicely," she said, leaning in closely and feeling his sweat freeze on his face. He didn't show it, simply matching her gaze. "A strong will, oh," she chuckled, her frozen, fresh breath turning his nose red, "I'm going to have fun with you."

"What do you mean, general?" Kakashi asked, feeling the concern of all his assassins on him.

Esdeath grimaced, Kakashi's body tensing at the sudden temperature drop just around him. "Did I say you could talk?" she snapped, pulling out a collar from her coat pocket and tying it around his neck. Kakashi's eyes widened at the realization of what was to come. She smiled at him again. "It is okay, accidents happen, _dear_."

Tatsumi's jaw dropped.

"You may ask one question, then we shall leave," Esdeath whispered into his ear.

"What are you planning on doing to me?" Kakashi asked. "Getting shackled was never in the description of this tournament."

Esdeath giggled, turning to address the crowd. "My people, set your gazes upon Kakashi, my champion, and my _beloved!_ "

The crowds erupted again while Night Raid's soul fluttered from the stands. "I'll kill the bitch!" Leone said, watching Esdeath drag him away, kicking and screaming.

Kisame and Leone stood up, ready to pounce. "Wait," Lubbock said, "this could benefit us more than we think."

"We can't just rush her now," Mine snapped, "she'll skewer all of us, don't you think before you jump, Leone?"

"I- we-" Leone took in a deep breath.

"Meet me at the base, immediately," Akame said, "intel or not, Kakashi's in grave danger."

"That should indicate how important it is that we save him now," Leone said, "if she finds out who he is, he's a dead man!"

"And if we go blundering in, so are we," Lubbock said. "Kakashi's more than smart enough to keep a good head on his shoulders for the time being, if there's anyone who could stay alive in her web, it's him."

"As a direct opponent of his, I concur," Kisame said.

"But as an ally," Mei said, "there is much we have to discuss."

Night Raid shuffled out of the stands, meeting Tatsumi outside the arena, still slack jawed at what just conspired. Akame looked back in worry, seeing Esdeath's carriage trotting up the road toward her palace. Leone's first instinct, still, was to attack, and the entire party felt uneasy on their silent walk home. Leone spoke first, setting the mood for their negotiations for the rest of the evening. "I have a bad feeling about this."

 **WHAT WILL ESDEATH DO TO KAKASHI? WILL NIGHT RAID SAVE OUR HERO, OR WILL KAKASHI END UP AS A POPSICLE? CAN KISAME AND MEI BE TRUSTED?**


	10. Kill the Loneliness

**HEY GUYS**

 **SO SOMEONE IN THE REVIEW SECTION ASKED WHY ESDEATH WOULD STILL HOST THE TOURNAMENT SINCE SHEELE LIVED THROUGH THE FIGHT WITH SERYU**

 **GREAT QUESTION FIRST OF ALL AND THANKS FOR YOUR CLOSE READING, I LOVE YOU GUYS 3**

 **SECONDLY, ESDEATH IS SADISTIC AS FUCK, IT'S ONLY FITTING THAT WHEN SHE'S NOT BEATING THE SHIT OUT OF PEOPLE, SHE'S WATCHING OTHER PEOPLE BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF PEOPLE**

 **SHE WAS ALSO STILL LOOKING FOR HER COMPANION**

 **THE TEIGU MIGHT HAVE BEEN AN INFLUENTIAL FACTOR WITH SHEELE DEAD BUT SHE WAS STILL LOOKING FOR LOVE, THE ONLY ONE SHE WOULD ACCEPT ANY BOYFRIEND IS IF HE WAS THE FITTEST, SO SHE WOULD HOLD THE TOURNAMENT ANYWAY**

 **ANY OTHER QUESTIONS PLEASE PM ME/REVIEW**

 **THANK YOUUUUU**

* * *

There was an uncomfortable silence inside the carriage, taking Esdeath and a still half naked Kakashi up the mountainside and deep into the forest. He'd never been this far past the citadel's line before, and the area around them was as dead as Esdeath's opponents were. "You may speak," Esdeath said.

"Where are you taking me?" Kakashi asked.

Esdeath smiled. "Excellent question," she said, "today you have become the reserve member of my new special operations squad, the Jaegers, isn't that exciting? Together, you will destroy the pests of Night Raid and anyone who stands in your way." She sat right next to him with one arm around him, breathing into his ear. The other side of the carriage was empty. Kakashi felt like a meal, sitting there, her air of dominance stepping on him like her guards, unlike them he did not back down.

"Then this is a mission?" Kakashi asked.

"We're just going to watch from a beautiful vantage point up in the mountains," she said, "my hideaway, I like to go on calm hikes, or spar, to ease my nerves- what do you do with your free time? What do you do for a living? Oh, there is so much I want to know about you."

"Well," Kakashi said, tensing up as her hand rubbed his inner thigh. "I read, do martial arts, in fact, I was a martial arts teacher in the country before I moved here."

"How nice," she said, "the country boy and the city girl- I will ask the palace jesters to put on a small show for us, based on that."

Kakashi chuckled, hiding his unease well. "That sounds nice."

"I think you and I are going to have fun together," Esdeath hissed, stopping the carriage. "Lots of it."

Kakashi followed her out onto a tall cliff, looking over a thirty story drop into the trees that called his name.

"Look, just on the horizon," she said, pointing straight ahead of them.

Kakashi looked up, centering on the pea-sized dot of fire sending up a thick, black pillar of smoke. "I see," he said, hiding his anger for all those who died and didn't need to. "Revolutionary scum, but won't the fire burn the rest of the forest away?"

"Soon, you will be able to do that too, alongside the Jaegers," Esdeath said, "after your training of course. Wing Chun is an excellent martial art, but fights in the streets aren't like what they are in a controlled arena."

"If only more people knew that," Kakashi said, "doctors would have more time to deal with actual sick people."

The general giggled with a blush again, her laugh still coming from pain at another's expense. "My thoughts exactly," she said, "here, we can sit and watch."

She sat him down, caressing his thigh again. It felt good, although he knew it was wrong.

"I'm not as bad as they say, am I?" Esdeath teased.

"I've only heard good things," Kakashi said.

Esdeath smirked. "Correct." She blushed again. "You know I like you a lot," she said, "and it feels good knowing that we're getting comfortable like this with each other. There are no fronts here, just the two of us."

Kakashi made a quick realization in his head: winning her over is going to be _much_ easier than fighting her, or so he thought. "I like you too," he said back, staring into her eyes.

"You just met me today," Esdeath said with her arrogant, knowing smile.

"And ever since I set eyes upon you," Kakashi said, "it's been hard for me to look away, I'm trying to figure you out for what is inside, and with you rubbing on my leg like that, it's getting harder to concentrate."

"Ohoho," she chuckled, "naughty boy, but I bet you are absolutely exhausted from today's trials." She pulled him into the carriage and set the driver off. "Take us home." With a snap of her finger, the horses followed her command.

She did not live in the same castle as the Emperor, but in her own mansion connected to the castle buildings. Hundreds of guards rushed around the carriage and front doors of the mini-palace, all clamoring to the carriage doors.

"All of my men used to be the best in their village, then after one night of working on their behavior and teaching them kneeling exercises," Esdeath said, "I broke them." She let out a seductive, dominating laugh that would stay in his head for the rest of his life. The carriage doors opened and hulking, musclebound men threw themselves onto the ground so she did not ever have to ruin her shoes on the grass. Kakashi carefully stepped around them, following Esdeath through her trimmed hedge garden and into the foyer of her fortress, astonished by the level of posh Esdeath live in. "Guards," she said, watching two giant men sprinting down the stairs to meet command. "Is dinner ready to serve?"

"Yes mistress," the guard said.

"Then gather the Jaegers into the dining hall," she said, sitting him down at a long, mahogany, table fit for 300 people and a throne at the end of it, presumably for when the Prime Minister and Emperor arrived. The entire back wall was glass, letting the moonlight shine in with the best view of the mountain range in the whole country.

""What a view," Kakashi said, hearing a snap of her fingers. All the lights of the crystal chandeliers above them turned on, and Kakashi took a long look at the expensive eggs, cased rubies, and mount upon mount of enemy weapons. His heart sunk seeing a giant tanto among them, along with multiple Kirigakure and Konohagakure genin and jonin headbands.

"Yes, aren't they great?" she said in thinking that he was saying it about the weapons, picking up three Shuriken from the wall and handing it to him. "They call these toys weapons, Shuriken, the ninjas over there are pretty adept at using them." She calmly whipped one through the foyer, and Kakashi watched it spin around the kitchen and back into the dining hall. She flipped her hair, catching it with her hand as it was going back. "Fun tools, these are."

"They look like it," Kakashi said, "may I try one?"

Esdeath laughed. "No. The Jaegers have arrived. Sit down, next to me."

Kakashi sat down at the seat next to the head of the table where Esdeath sat as the most lavish and rich display of food in the entire Empire was put before them, apple in the roasted pig's mouth and all, many foods Kakashi hadn't seen before. The front doors opened and in walked in seven men and women, each drastically different than the last and all carrying a Teigu, except one. Kakashi's face burned red with rage when they locked eyes.

"Introduce yourselves," Esdeath ordered as they sat down, "this is Kakashi, he is my new lover and as you can see, he is fresh from battle."

A tall, lanky man with spiky black hair with a white streak on one side and glasses wearing a white, bloodied lab coat winked at Kakashi with his blue eyes. "I see," he said with a high pitched, effeminate voice. "Well I am Doctor Stylish, leader of this group of Imperial rascals, you're really going to like working with us!"

A golden-eyed blonde boy wearing a white robe over a black shirt and a brown belt with a feather pin on one ear and a silver medallion-like necklace greeted him with a polite smile. "My name is Run, you might have seen me around before, I work as a teacher when I'm not here."

Kakashi was surprised at first, but then he remembered all of his math, science, history, and english teachers, were all high-functioning death machines. Small world. "Nice to meet you both."

The next man was tall, broad-shouldered, with dark, cowlicked blue hair and eyes with a navy blue jacket and brown pants. He seemed like a very plain, normal guy. "I'm Wave," the young man said, "got excited when I heard you'd be joining us, we country folk have to stick together if we want to make it big for our hometowns, am I right?"

A hulking, muscular behemoth of a man, standing and damn near ten feet tall, stepped in wearing a leather fire mask that hid his whole head, biking gloves, a thick brown belt, khaki shorts, and heavy black boots. He just stared at Kakashi, silently and unnervingly. Kakashi wasn't moved. "Sorry, what's your name?" he said with a smile, pulling out the chair next to him. The rest of the team stared at the Shinobi as if he had three heads, while Esdeath watched him hungrily from her chair.

The scarred beast stomped over to the other side of the table and sat down, shaking his hand. "I-I'm Bols," he said softly, "sorry about, uh, not answering you earlier, I have social anxiety, so sometimes it's hard for me to, you know."

He was still more social than most of Kakashi's ANBU peers. "Don't worry about it. It's good to have you here."

"Hey! I remember you!" a familiar, cheery and upbeat voice called from the remaining members of the Jaegers. Kakashi looked up and forced a smile on his face at the witch who nearly killed Sheele and Mine. "I've seen you around quite a bit, helping us catch thieves and take the homeless to shelters nearby," she said, "General, I'd say you caught yourself a pretty decent guy!"

"Seryu, is it?" Kakashi said, seeing her sit down across from him.

"Seryu Ubiquitous, at your service," she said, "you were really great out there!"

"I've seen better," the last new Jaeger member said dismissively, looking like a younger, slimmer version of Akame with the same dress, shorter hair, and jet-black eyes. She carried her katana with her at all times it seemed, refusing to keep it anywhere but by her side.

"Do not be rude to him, Kurome," Esdeath snapped, "sit down."

"Yes, general," Kurome said, taking a seat.

Kakashi set his eyes upon the final Jaeger. He was tall, lean, and muscular, with a shining black Bruce Lee bowl cut, a chiseled jaw and prominent cheekbones, dark brown eyes, a wide, winning smile and two big bushy brows. He wore the standard Kirigakure Shinobi uniform with the red Jonin headband strapped around his thick bicep. "And you are?"

The bushy browed ninja gave him a fat thumb up. "Kirigakure's Sublime Blue Beast of Prey, Maito! Blue Beast, for short."

He sat at the end of the group, grinning widely at the boiling Shinobi also undercover. "Great to meet you."

"You may eat," Esdeath instructed, and the seven Jaegers dug in, the whole time Kakashi glaring at the other ninja at the table as he ate. "Doctor Stylish, mission report."

Stylish stood straight up, dropping everything in his hands and mouth as if on instinct. "Fourteen revolutionary bases were eradicated, all who opposed us were killed instantly."

"And the women and children?" Esdeath asked, nearly making Kakashi drop his fork. He sucked it up and continued eating.

"They were put safely out of harm's way," Maito said, his smile fading as her glare froze his eyebrows, "as per my command, General."

The general was quiet for a moment. Maito blinked and gasped, catching three forks before they impaled his throat and face. He leaned back to dodge a razor sharp ice sheet that would have beheaded him and slowly sat up, clapping his hands in forgiveness. He'd never tell that truth again. "For proving yourself worthy to live this time, your actions will not have that severe of a consequence," Esdeath said, "fail me again and you will not be so lucky."

Maito clapped his hands in forgiveness and bowed. "Thank you, General."

"Kakashi, you agree that leaving the women and children alive is a sign of weakness and only breeds a future generation of dissent against the Empire, yes?" Esdeath asked.

Kakashi figured he would need to test the waters eventually. "It is a sign of compassion," Kakashi said, seeing her grimace turn even colder, "and mercy, that many people believe the other side of a war lacks-" Blood flew from his cheek with a backhanded slap from the General, her icy ring slicing a fresh cut open on his cheek. Kakashi looked up at his mistress, the pain from the strike still stinging, only seeing Bulat's carcass rotting on a boat through her deadly gaze.

"You are wrong," she said, feeling his cut and licking the blood off her finger. She smiled, savoring the flavor. Kakashi felt her hand grip the back of his head and before he could pull away their lips were locked, her eyes closed while he looked over at Maito, begging him for help with his eyes. She broke the kiss, this time licking the blood off his cheek with a long, pointed, devilish tongue. "But that is alright. I will have to break you apart, and build you again." She whispered into his ear. "Starting tonight."

Kakashi opened his mouth to speak. "If I-"

"Now you must leave," she said, "there is a Danger Beast that has assaulted the west gate and the guards there need our help taking it down. Be back here by midnight, and do not let my property here escape."

"Yes, General!" the Jaegers exclaimed, standing up and rushing out of the mansion.

Kakashi looked down at himself, seeing that he was still in his arena leather armor. He had no weapons, just his mask and what covered his body. "Esdeath-"

" _Mistress_ ," she hissed.

"Mistress," he corrected, "is there an armory, somewhere I could get some throwing knives or a sword?"

Esdeath grinned brightly. "What you see on the wall is what you can use, I do not believe in owning weapons if they are not used."

"Me too, but are you sure I can-"

"See, we do see things eye to eye," she said, "try out the ninja weapons, tell me if they are really worth using."

Kakashi wanted to laugh. "I won't let you down," he said, equipping himself with kunai, shuriken, smoke bombs, and a few flash and explosive tags kept in thick scrolls on the walls. This was worth easily 300 Shinobi. He rushed out of the mansion, quickly catching up to the team with a fleeting thought. He could run away, right then and there, but capturing intel for Night Raid, a layout of the castle, where the Prime Minister slept, they would all aid Night Raid more than him being there for a week. Speaking of people being where they didn't belong, he looked over at Maito Gai with a burning glare and nodded to him. The two vanished into the trees as the team approached the west gate.

Maito started giggling, leaning out of a punch that went straight through the tree. "Long time no see, Kakashi," he said.

"Guy! What the _hell_ are you doing here?" Kakashi whisper-shouted. "Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?"

"That's why Number Three sent me, old friend," Guy said with a twinkling smile. "It's been nearly four months, all Pakkun's told us is that the closer you're getting to the Prime Minister and the Empire, the quicker he is to send more military forces to our borders, and with Kirigakure on their side, things have been getting ugly on our end, but he's ecstatic that you're single handedly turning their domestic issues into my ninja academy entrance exams."

Kakashi gasped. "Were they that bad?"

Guy laughed and placed his hands on his hips, looking contently over the west gate. "Like the Inuzuka clan's dogs all getting cholera at the same time."

"Oh, I- I didn't know, I-" Kakashi shook his head, keeping his anger steadfast. "That's besides the point, Guy!"

Guy scrunched up as he scratched his inner ear with his pinky. "He wants me to check in on you."

"Check in on me?" Kakashi said. "You almost got your head sliced off by the world's most genocidal refrigerator! If you ever come in contact with Night Raid and I'm not there, they will try to kill your whirlwind-ing ass!"

"I figured that'd be the easiest way to find you," Guy said, rubbing the back of his head. "That or just shout 'Icha Icha' through the streets on a sunny day for 15 minutes."

"And they couldn't send another ANBU?" Kakashi said.

"We're stretched pretty thin," Guy said, "you need to hurry up."

"Hurry up?" Kakashi said, growing even more escalated. "Hurry up?!" He grabbed Guy by the front of his flak jacket. "If I had a ryo for every politician and official and decoy and hyper powered mega super warrior who seven times out of ten happened to be some mythical Kiri-nin or mercenary for hire in the last 90 days then I'd have more money in my pocket than barbeque chips in Choza Akimichi's stomach!"

"Do you ever think he's going to stop eating those?" Guy asked curiously. "Too much salt can be bad for your heart."

"Incursio!" another familiar voice shouted from beyond the west gate.

"Guy!" Kakashi exclaimed, taking off toward the west gate.

The two Shinobi jumped over the gate, appearing as twin leaf shadows as they landed in front of their team. The guards, and the spider-alligator beast, lay dead on the road, leaving only a seethingly angry warrior wearing the armor of Bulat, Akame, and Leone. "Shit, it's Night Raid!" Wave said. "Well, I've got an armor Teigu of my own, call it Incursio 2.0! Grand Chariot!"

A slim, lean, blue, aquatic armored Wave emerged from the smoke around his transformation, masterfully spinning a trident in hand while charging Tatsumi. Kakashi grabbed Wave's shoulder. Kakashi charged headfirst, taking both of his teams completely off guard. "Kakashi! No!" Wave shouted, watching his twin blades clash against Akame's blade, Incursio's lance, and Leone's claws. "Come on guys, let's-" Another katana stopped him from moving forward and a bright flash illuminated the area, blinding anyone watching.

Guy felt a tap on his shoulder. "I have six days until I have to go back to the base," Kakashi whispered, "let's map the castle and make this attack look convincing."

"Sounds like a plan," Guy said, sweeping the Jaegers to the ground with a spin kick and diving with the Shinobi before anyone noticed.

"What on Earth was that?" Esdeath shouted, emerging from the woods rubbing her eyes. "Where are they?"

"They turned tail and ran when they saw they were outnumbered," Kakashi said, "should we go after them?"

"No," Esdeath said quickly, "I'm leaving that to Doctor Stylish's latest projects. You all failed and will be punished accordingly, but on the field. Night Raid has murdered 1600 tier S guards, 190 of my direct subordinates, 11 of my Teigu users, and 6 Jaeger-level warriors. All six and 11 were killed by one man, as well as 1300 of the guards and 120 of the subordinates, so this time I will allow you to live. You are dismissed, except for Kakashi, you will be coming to my room for the night."

Kakashi swallowed nervously while Guy hid his laughter with all of his strength. "Yes, General," he said, purposefully brushing past his fellow spy and slapping a white slip on his back.

Guy didn't have to read it to know what it was about. He still pretended to be dazed like the rest of the Jaegers, simply nodding with a fast wink.

"See you soon, Maito," Kakashi said, rubbing his eyes as well. "I am very looking forward to working with you- _watch your back_."

* * *

 **ENTER GUY**

 **YOUR THOUGHTS?**

 **WILL BOTH OF THEM SURVIVE MAPPING OUT THE ENTIRE PALACE?**

 **WILL THEY DECIDE TO END THE WAR THEMSELVES?**


	11. Kill the Planning

"The view is wonderful, isn't it?" Esdeath said dreamily, blushing as she and Kakashi sat on her high, plush bed with a wall-sized window giving the best view of the hills in all the Empire under the starry sky. Kakashi looked up at the tyrant squeezing his hand. Like the world's longest snake, she was as beautiful as she was deadly, her blue hair cascading down her back and her eyes sparkling with the reflection the moonlight made along with her porcelain skin that had been splattered in red from crushing a young man's head with her heel earlier. Her uniform and stockings were red as well, the stench of blood mixing with her sweet perfume. Kakashi also smelled heavily of blood, but it was from a monster eating a village, and no one else.

"It's the second-most gorgeous thing I've seen tonight," he said, making sure she kept eye contact with him.

"I know," she said with a smile. "There is an interesting relationship between the predator and her prey, just before the prey is killed, the amount of adrenalin released produces the same rush one gets from looking at someone they love more than anything on this world."

Kakashi chuckled, under his mask his intentions were hidden. "I'm afraid you won't be able to put me down."

Esdeath pecked him on the lips, staring at him with a condescending grin. "Oh, that's what they all say."

"They say the most dangerous animal is the lion, but it is actually the saltwater crocodile, watching them from the waters silently, hidden, that sits atop the food chain in the animal kingdom," Kakashi said.

Esdeath sighed and crossed her legs, looking down at her feet. "They make beautiful boots, don't they?"

"I have a fun activity, dear," Kakashi said, standing up, "I'll be your prey, I want you to catch me."

That raised an eyebrow. "You cannot leave the room tonight."

Kakashi shrugged. "I guess you'll have to bring me back." He darted out of the door just before a ray of ice hit the door. He closed it behind him and looked up, nodding at the gleaming bowlcut webbed in the ceiling. He quickly cast a shadow clone and joined his friend clinging to a pillar on the wall. Guy handed Kakashi's ANBU mask to him, while Guy placed his own special mask, one detailing a green tiger with thick, bushy eyebrows.

"Isn't it cool?" Guy whispered.

The doors flung open and Esdeath rushed out, pinning the clone against the wall.

"If you ever-"

The clone slipped out of her grasp, poking her on the nose and darting down the hallway.

"I will make you my slave!" Esdeath cried out, running after him.

Guy watched the clone and the general dart down the hallway. "You get around," he whispered.

"Shut up," Kakashi snapped. "I pickpocketed a map of the castle from Dr. Stylish, we're going to map out all the possible entries and exits of the castle, don't kill anyone unless you have too- and we might."

"You're talking about Dr. Stylish's special squad?" Guy asked.

"Yeah," Kakashi said, "supposedly they're out on patrol tonight, so keep an eye on-"

"Shh!" Guy directed his attention to a group of three guards passing below, their elite armor shining from the moonlight coming in from the wide, bolt-locked windows. Entry point one. "Do you know them?"

"No," Kakashi said, hearing a very distinct accent. "Well, yes."

"Rory, Rupert," Cecil the Guard's voice said from below, "got a question for you."

"Oh, not now, Cecil!" Rory spat, folding his arms.

"Let him ask it, Rory, no need to go off your trolley about it," Rupert said.

"Let's have it then," Rory said angrily.

"So you know when we go ta market," Cecil said, "and they have like thirta three different brands of wa-ah?"

"Wa-ah?" Guy whispered, hopping from pillar to pillar with Kakashi.

"Water, I think," Kakashi said.

"Yes, what about it?" Rory asked.

"Well, they're all sellin' wa-ah," Cecil said, tapping his armored chin, each time with a ting of metal.

"What's your point?" Rory pressed.

"Don't rush him, mate," Rupert said.

"Why are they different prices?" Cecil asked.

"Well that's a _stupid_ question!" Rory exclaimed.

"Oh, don't tell him that!" Rupert said. "Cecil, it's because they use different packaging."

"But tha wa-ah inside's tha same," Cecil said, "we're not buyin' the packagin' no we're not, that's- that's false advertisin'."

"The Empire has lost more guards due to one man running rampant about the city like some bloody mad Jack the Ripper and you're here thinking about why water from a jug costs more than water from a bag?!" Rory shouted.

"Well if I used the tap and filled up, say, a can," Cecil said, "would I be chargin' fer tha wa-ah, or the can used ta hold tha wa-ah?"

The dust on one chandelier Guy swung from tickled his nose. He flipped onto a curtain over the archway to the next room and dug his face into the cloth, his face burning red as that was even worse. Kakashi wanted to throw a kunai him. "Oh my god," he whispered, hanging from the other side of the curtain. Guy burst several veins in his forehead, keeping the torrent of snot and mucus-y death at bay. Several manly tears rolled down his face, swallowing a sneeze that would have blown their cover and the three guards away. He stared at Kakashi's blunt, disappointed expression with a wide, sparkling smile and a thumb up.

"You piss poor thanpillock!" Rory cursed.

"Well, technically, you're still buying the water," Rupert said.

"Yeah but chargin' people differently that's cheatin'," Cecil said, sounding upset.

"Now he's right pissed, Rupert!" Rory shouted.

"Maybe's he's right," Rupert said, "we turn around here."

Rory put his hands on his hips. "I am the leader of Esdeath's elite guardian squadron, I shall decide!" he said, taking one more step. "We turn around here!"

Rupert sighed. "Excellent, boss."

"Good show, Rory," Cecil said, following his hotheaded leader back in the direction they came.

The two ninja sighed in relief and continued on, circling the entire top floor and finding many deliciously exploitable gaps in the palace defenses, even if it was just Esdeath's private sector. They approached a gate guarded by two sentinels holding torches with a closed drawbridge connected to the main palace. A staircase led down to the fourth floor. "Got it," Guy said, reaching into his pocket and whipping a pebble across the room and at a bookcase.

"You just have pebbles in your pockets?" Kakashi asked, running upside-down on the ceiling while his chakra-inhibited friend dropped from the air and slithered under a coffee table and darted into the staircase without making a sound. They met up at the bottom, taking to the walls once again as three more guards made their nightly rounds.

"It's part of my new training program," Guy said, drawing multiple loose hinges on the laundry chute in a small, black notebook. "I call it 'Pocket Pebbles.'"

Kakashi rolled his eyes, testing the locks on the skylights before creeping into several drawing rooms in different vibrant colors like a royal's castle.. "How original."

"But wait, there's more," Guy said, quickly noticing the lack of firewood in the chimney fireplace… dangerous, but a way in or out. "I spoke with a couple investors before I came out to save you, they want to put Pebbles in every Pocket, that's right-" He gave Kakashi his best pair of jazz hands. "Franchising!"

"You're going to be making money off of this?" Kakashi asked, completing the loop around the entertainment floor.

"Bu. Ku. Bucks. Ka. Ka. Shi."

"Congratulations," Kakashi said genuinely, still in disbelief that shoveling gravel in your pocket would lead to a business.

"First drink when we get back is on me," Guy said, spinning down a staircase to the third floor. This floor they already knew inside and out from dinner and Jaeger meetings. They went down a very narrow hallway, jumping from wall to wall as they made their way to a sentinel-guarded staircase. A familiar man with a high-pitched voice and lab coat stood in front of the guard with two, well-built men and a petite woman.

"We have access to Esdeath's archives, step aside," he told them.

"Yes, Dr. Stylish," the guards responded in unison, stepping aside with one swift pivot and closing in behind them again like a swinging door.

"Impressive unity," Guy said.

"We need to get in there," Kakashi whispered, seeing Guy scrounge around in his pockets. "Wait, I have an idea." He pulled out several senbon needles, thin enough to fly through the air without being noticed. "Watch this," he said, whipping the needles into the Sentinels' necks.

The guards still stood stoically staring out into the hallway, waiting. Guy had a pebble ready for using. "Are you sure we can't-"

"Give it a minute."

Once the first guard yawned, it was all over for the rest. Within seconds, the four giants with blades were curled up on the floor, drooling in their sleep.

"Pebbles would have been cooler," Guy said.

"Pebbles might tell anyone within a mile that we're in a place we really shouldn't be," he whispered, landing on their sleeping bodies and pulling out the senbon. They disappeared down the stairwell, peeking out of the corner into the dark, candlelit, cold library spanning the length of four of Esdeath's dining halls. The ninja looked up and jumped, fading into the shadows. They ran along the top of the bookcases, kicking up more and more dust that turned Guy's face red. Kakashi looked down, silently watching Doctor Stylish's team sift through Esdeath's shelves.

"Hana, Mimi, Me, stay here," Dr. Stylish said, "I need to obtain the proper ledger from Esdeath herself- can't build an army of prisoners without death row, right?"

A few chuckles were heard around a table and the doctor left with three of his associates. The other three sat around the round reading table, with one of the henchmen quickly yawning. "I'm going to walk around," he said, opening his huge, red eyes fixed into the darkness. A chill went up Guy's spine as he stared directly into the muscular blonde man's bugged out eyes.

"Don't be too loud, Me," the petite, tattooed woman with elephant-sized ears said, making Guy physically sick to his stomach.

"Whatever, Mimi," Me grumbled, walking down one of the aisles.

"I should look for a book too!" a muscular, jolly man facing the books said, moving into the aisles in the other direction.

"I'll follow that guy," Guy whispered, hopping from shelf to shelf and watching him carefully like a panther watching its prey from the treetops. The man hummed to himself with a high pitched, pleasant voice, keeping his back to the Shinobi as he shuffled down the line. He switched aisles and Guy switched shelves, this one a bit older than the rest. A terrible surge of adrenalin coursed into the Shinobi's sinuses, with Guy using every ounce of his power to hold back a disaster that no amount of blessings would ameliorate. With tears in his red eyes and his face red, he buried his face into his elbow. "Achoo!" he spat as silently as possible, quickly looking around to see if he'd set off any traps. With a sigh of relief he looked back to his target, but was completely unprepared for the sight his eyes set themselves upon. There was the man, wearing a white mask with a hole cut out for a bulbous, red nose measuring at two feet long with hairy, snotty nostrils, staring up into the darkness at him. Guy swallowed a scream and zipped toward him, crushing his skull with a red right hook that reverberated around the library.

"What was that?" Mimi asked. "Hana? Was that you?"

Guy stood over the dead, long-nosed man, letting out a silent scream before sweeping him up and jumping back to the top of the bookshelves. He set the man down, plugging his nose with as much tissue as he had on him to stop the blood before hurriedly rushing to the opposite end of the library. Kakashi saw his fear-filled face splattered with blood and cursed under his breath.

"The fuck did you do?"

"I- I panicked-"

"What the _fuck_ , Guy, he's dead?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just- he- that- he looked up, and I saw the nose-" He groaned and grabbed the sides of his head in agony. " _The_ _nose!_ "

"Keep your voice down!"

"Sorry, sorry-"

"Where is he?"

"I left him on the bookcase-"

"Who's there?" Mimi called out. "Hana?"

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," Kakashi cursed. "Guy!" he whisper-shouted. "We live in a country with talking dogs, giant toads, and the current Hokage hits people with a screaming stick! What about a nose is strange to you?"

"Okay but you need to see this nose," Guy said.

"I know you're there," Mimi said, followed by the sound of steel scraping steel. "Come out, and I'll only stab you once."

Kakashi leaped into the air and Me pointed at his shape in the darkness. "There they are-" He stopped mid-sentence, eyes wide and bulging, as a Shuriken punctured his brain right between his eyes. His eyes popped out, eliciting an audible, high-pitched cry of terror from the bowl cut ninja. Mimi gasped, looking up and seeing the spinning foot of the green-clad ninja before bashing her head into the bookcase, slumping to the floor with her neck broken on a book on pacifism.

Guy and Kakashi danced in nervousness as the sounds of footsteps came trudging down the stairs. Guy picked up the bodies and jumped into the shadows. Kakashi checked that the wooden floor was spotless and faded into the darkness again. Guy started pacing quickly again, holding his hands on his head. "Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-"

"Shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up, just calm-" Kakashi's Sharingan flared and he whipped around, whipping a kunai straight through the neck of a muscular redhead wielding a set of knives. He darted forward and caught the rogue right before he fell. "This is worse. This is getting worse." He peered out from over the bookcase again, seeing the doctor standing with his last two subordinates.

"Hana! Mimi! Me! Come out!" Doctor Stylish called out flamboyantly. "Mimi! I know you can hear me with those big-ass ears of yours! You know I hate to be kept waiting!" He started tapping his foot, the noise echoing about the dead halls. "Kaku, Toby, go get them, I might just fire them after all. Weird shits. Hmph!"

Kakashi and Guy stared at his last two underlings, one was a hairy, mountainous man with a thick black mustache and steel fists, while the other was lanky, short, and skinny, but his inhuman stare was off putting. "Split up, Kaku," the smaller man said, receiving a scowl from his partner.

"Don't tell me what to do," Kaku grumbled, unleashing two broadswords that would have cut any normal man in half.

"We have to get out of here," Kakashi whispered, "if Stylish thinks something's up then we may be done for."

Guy watched for when Kaku went down his hall and Toby went down another. "Go, go, go," he whispered, jumping onto a chandelier and spinning into the hallway. The two ninja rushed up the hallway and two gasps met, Kakashi's blade running deep into Doctor Stylish's neck and crushing his windpipe before he had the chance to cry for help. Kakashi quickly finished the job, piercing his heart, lungs, and stomach, turning the doctor's white suit blood red. Kakashi slowly looked over at Guy, holding the wide-eyed dead man in his arms. Internally screaming, the two ninja darted out of the nearest open window and plunged deep into the heart of the forest, running until they found a clearing so dark no one else would see.

"Start digging," Kakashi said.

"The _fuck_ do you mean start digging?"

"I mean we're fucked if anyone finds it," he said, burying his face in his hands.

Guy looked down at the pale corpse, his breathing heavier and his legs nervously dancing around. "So this is what being an ANBU is like…" Guy stammered, driving a heel into the ground and using a strong taijutsu technique to drive three feet of mud out of the ground. He used his other foot and helped Kakashi drop the body in, twisted and contorted lazily, but enough that it stayed when they pushed the dirt back over it.

"You seem tense."

Kakashi caught Guy's quivering glare. "We just murdered four people."

"Just take a deep breath, we're still fucked if we're found out, but I need you to calm down, if we stay calm, we can-" His eyes widened and his mouth slowly opened in awe, astonishment, fear, and disbelief. "Did we leave the window open?"

Guy stared at him in horror. "Wh- what?"

"Did we leave the fucking window open?"

Guy started whimpering. The Spirit of Youth was troubled. "I don't think-"

"Did we?!"

"I don't think so-"

" _Fuck me_ ," Kakashi exclaimed, stomping around the smooth grave and letting out a muffled scream into the nearest tree. "We're going back, the first floor is just dungeon, mission complete, mission over-"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm sure, let's just get the hell out of-"

"Who goes there?" an elderly man's voice called out from just outside the clearing.

Both ninja wanted to scream and disappeared into the trees, making it back to the side of the mansion in record time. They looked up at the window and sighed in relief, chuckling nervously as they scaled the wall for their entrances. Kakashi tossed his tools and masks up to Guy and nodded, receiving a shaky thumb up before he slipped inside the hallway to Esdeath's room. Kakashi slithered back into Esdeath's chambers and the clone followed soon after, turning into smoke almost immediately and getting carried out by a draft. Esdeath kicked down the door, her fists balled up and her jaw set. "You got me," Kakashi said, getting pinned down on the bed by the general.

"I did not find that amusing at all," Esdeath hissed, "you are my plaything, and I decide when I want to show you affection."

"Well, you are on top of me," Kakashi said, pecking her on the nose. This time he caught the slap. "I have a lot of affection I would like to share with you, general."

Esdeath's icy glare was met by Kakashi's steadfast, tranquil gaze and she blushed angrily. "It appears that I must break you now before you continue defying me," she said, "and if I cannot beat you or berate you into submission, there are _other ways_."

Kakashi's heart stopped for an instant, but all he could do was wait.

She smiled at him coldly. "It's your own fault, Kakashi," she said, pinching him in between his neck and shoulder. The world around him grew dim and the last thing he remembered before passing out was her parting words. "Sweet dreams."

* * *

 **WHAT DOES ESDEATH HAVE IN STORE FOR THE SHINOBI? WITH THEIR MISSION COMPLETE AND ONE DAY LEFT DISGUISED IN ESDEATH'S JAEGER SQUAD, WILL THE SHINOBI RETURN TO NIGHT RAID AND ESCAPE FROM ESDEATH'S COLD CLUTCHES? REVIEW!**


	12. Kill the Beloved

**LONG BREAK, SORRY, FINALS/RESEARCH AND TRAVELING KILLED MY LAPTOP AND I HAD TO GET IT FIXED SO HERE I AM, EXPECT A BUNCH OF UPDATES OVER THE NEXT THREE WEEKS:**

 **AT LEAST 2 UPDATES TO TNFOJ, IT WILL BE FINISHED IN 2018 IN SPRING/EARLY SUMMER WITH MINOR FIXES**

 **AT LEAST 1 UPDATE TO KAKASHI GA KILL, IT WILL BE FINISHED IN FEBRUARY/EARLY MARCH**

 **AT LEAST 2 UPDATES TO STAR WARS: THE X EFFECT**

 **AT LEAST 1 UPDATE TO LIVING THE PAST, IT AND THE "NEW TITAN" TRILOGY WILL END THIS YEAR**

 **AT LEAST 1 UPDATE TO SECRET WARS**

 **ALSO**

 **I'M HAPPY TO SAY THAT 5 NEW STORIES HAVE BEEN SLATED FOR UPLOADING IN 2018 SINCE MY 3 MAIN STORIES/SERIES ARE COMING CLOSE TO THE END, PM ME FOR DETAILS:**

 **BLACK PANTHER + SPIDERMAN / OVERWATCH**

 **AN ITACHI BASED NARUTO / BATMAN + TEEN TITANS TALE**

 **A BARDOCK BASED DBZ / SUPERMAN (+ SOME OTHER HEROES)**

 **DRAGONBALL / STREET FIGHTER**

 **DRAGONBALL Z / X-MEN**

 **ENJOY AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!**

* * *

"Good morning, dear," Esdeath's sweet, cold voice said from her side of the bed. He hadn't slept a wink, simply waiting with eyes closed for the punishment to occur. It certainly didn't happen overnight, maybe he'd passed out. "Get dressed, it is time for us to address the Jaegers at breakfast."

Kakashi's eyes shot open, staring at the mountainside out the window at the crack of dawn. He rolled over, seeing her already in uniform, dressed to kill. "Did you sleep well?"

Esdeath sighed, poking his forehead with a wide, almost innocent smile. "I was too busy thinking of a suitable punishment for you, I need to invent a new way to bring you to near death to finally put you in your place. With other men, it was simply cheap infatuation- until they snapped or died- but you, you're strong-willed, resilient, I want to do something special for you to show you how much I care."

Kakashi sat up, heading toward the bathroom. "I'm flattered," he said with a laugh, "maybe I'll be up to the challenge." He caught a backhand, receiving a vengeful laugh.

"I will enjoy watching you crawl on your hands and knees, licking my boots," she warned again. "Hurry up in the bathroom. No more than 10 minutes."

"Yes, dear," he said.

Kakashi took 10 minutes at most. He figured he should stop trying to piss her off. He stepped out in a black tee shirt, white shorts, and the skimpy arena armor over it that Esdeath insisted he wear every single day. Her icy glare pierced his eyes and dove straight through his soul. "10 minutes, 11 seconds," she spat, clicking a stopwatch. "I could have killed an entire squadron of Shinobi in that time, or I could have been assassinated."

"Oh, I was just washing my hands, I didn't think-" Kakashi dodged a pillar of ice that crunched through the wall.

"You are mine now," she hissed, "you do not think, I do, understand?"

"I'm sorry," Kakashi said, making her smile again. He put all of his things in his backpack and threw it over his shoulder.

"What do you need all that for?" Esdeath asked curiously.

"I don't plan on coming back until I've slit every Revolutionary throat seen today," Kakashi said grimly. "Since they're much better at running than fighting, I'll need to take some supplies."

Esdeath glared at him, scanning his soul but being blocked by her own infatuation. "You're lucky you're cute," she said, leading him down to the dining hall where the Jaegers waited patiently with their breakfasts in front of them. Her mouth upturned at the sight of the two extravagant breakfast plates set out for her and Kakashi. "The chef did not wait for me to come downstairs to serve," she said, snapping her fingers. Three of her ten-foot guards appeared from around the dining hall in a line. "Cut off the chef's pinkies, after breakfast."

The three guards kneeled in respect then darted toward the kitchen.

"Sit," Esdeath ordered, pulling out the chair next to hers at the head of the table. It was far shorter and smaller than hers, his chin peeking over the tabletop by an inch or two. Esdeath scanned her elites. None wished to meet her eyes, maybe except Bols- she could never tell what he was thinking with that mask on, but she rightfully assumed he was also scared. "Run, Wave, Bols, Kurome, Seryu, Maito- where's the Doctor? Seryu, report."

Seryu saluted with a grim expression, standing up to speak. "He was last seen with his squadron of experiments tracking Night Raid's hideout, the guards said he went into the library last night but the guards' accounts are scattered and unreliable."

Esdeath sighed. "Have the guards executed, then," she said, so bored and nonchalant that it made Kakashi gag. "If Doctor Stylish isn't here, then he deserted or he's dead, and no one deserts my army so we have to assume the worst."

Seryu balled up her fists. "Do not fear, general, I'll find the bastards who did it and feed their cut off limbs to your dogs."

Esdeath laughed, chilling the top warriors of the Empire. A great ally and general, she was, but if she was anyone else Seryu would have slit their throat for such disregard to the grimness of the situation at hand. "My dogs would not eat such lowly swill, and I admire your spirit, Seryu, we will find whoever killed him and you may exact your revenge. Back to our agenda for the day, however; a new Teigu has been discovered within a Revolutionary camp in the forests and I am assigning you to find it and burn the camp to the ground. Leave no survivors. Seryu, you are in charge. Dismissed."

Esdeath stood up first and planted another kiss on the Shinobi's lips. "If you hurt yourself out there," she said, digging her nails into his head, "do not think you'll be reprimanded lightly."

"Yes, dear," Kakashi said as non-sarcastically as he possibly could. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a red bracelet and attaching it around his wrist.

"This is my tracking device so I know you have not run away," she said, giggling at the fear she perceived in his eyes, "the only way it comes off is with the rest of your clothes by my hand or if you die." She snapped her fingers and a guard with the same bracelet rushed into the room.

"Yes, General?" the guard said. He was young, bright-eyed, with a wide smile and determination burning in his eyes.

"Show your new field commander what happens when you try to take the bracelet off," she ordered.

"Ma'am yes ma'am!" he exclaimed heartily, giving the bracelet a mighty tug. His smile flipped into a confused, aggravated frown. "I don't think anything is happen-"

Wave fought back a gasp as the young man was swallowed in a bright explosion like a grenade. Thick splotches of hot blood shot all around the room as the flash in the room died down, revealing the poor boy no longer had a hand, arm, or face. He stood there in dead silence for a moment, the remainder of his left eye staring at the leader he aspired to be like one day without anger nor hate, just sad, betrayed, disappointment. He opened his mouth to speak, comprised only of half a jaw and chunks of gum and his lower lip, making no sound as his trachea had been crushed by a plate of armor from his arm. He slowly turned his head over to Kakashi, the bits of his hair that were left soaked red, his bright eyes tearing up and pleading in a silent scream for help before tipping over and finally expiring. Esdeath grimaced at the sight of her own doing. "Poor boy, Michael was his name, if I remember correctly. His family depended on that job."

Kakashi watched Guy's fists shake violently and the two Shinobi met eyes, with Kakashi giving him a warning that now was not the time to strike. Michael would be avenged.

"But now you know," Esdeath said cheerily, kissing a speck of blood on her beloved's nose. "Come back soon, I want us to spend as much time together before we leave to the New World."

Guy bit his tongue. "And when would we leave on this death cruise?" Kakashi asked, making her cackle like a witch.

"28 days," Esdeath said, sighing dreamily at the thought, "you and me, putting a stake in the Kage's heart together, as lovers."

The entire room heard Guy's knuckles cracking.

"I'm excited for that," Kakashi lied, "but in the meantime, let's bring back some Revolutionary heads."

"Lead on," Esdeath said, turning from them and walking toward the hallways. "Be back before nightfall."

"Yes, General!" the Jaegers said, running as fast as they could out of the castle, some out of more fear than others. Seryu took the lead.

"Rally on my six," she ordered, taking into the forests in a loud, in-your-face approach to raids. Wave activated his armor and ran up to her side.

"If I might suggest," Wave said, "since we're not going to sneak into the camp, since we're the most offensive warriors I figured we could all run in together."

"Let's decide that once we see the layout of the camp," Seryu said, drawing her sword. "But if we do run in, I'm drawing first blood!"

"If we see it," Run said, stopping behind the rest of the team as they approached a wide cliff overlooking a river.

"If there's a camp," Kurome said sadly, seeing the remains of a small clearing across the river populated by tents and makeshift shacks up in smoke.

Seryu growled in anger and leapt from the cliffside. "We're still going to check it out! They're covering their tracks!"

"There they are!" Run exclaimed. "I've never seen this crew before, Seryu!"

"It's always good to learn on the field, Run!" Seryu cackled, leaping across the river into what Kakashi saw as a certain death. Najenda, Mei, and Kisame were responsible for the flames, along with a hulking, gruff man around Kisame's height with tan skin, purple eyes and short, messy purple hair, and white, bull-like horns jutting out from his forehead and carrying a long, steel bludgeoning tool with metal diamonds as the head of the club. They weren't fleeing, he noted, rather the scarily familiar woman behind them wielding a halberd in one hand over Najenda's throat held them still.

"General Esdeath?" Guy said, feeling a shiver roll down his spine, halting with the rest of the Jaegers upon landing. "What is she doing here?!"

"Is this some kind of test?" Wave asked as confused as everyone else.

Kakashi, unlike the rest, did not stop, greeting Esdeath with a smirk as he threw a backhanded slash with a draw of his blade. "Kakashi, no!" Seryu gasped, feeling the conflict of challenging her superior clash with her need to save a life. Esdeath's halberd deflected it and thrust itself through Kakashi with one mortal strike, filling the forest with his horrific outcry of pain and misery. Esdeath cackled and withdrew the blade, using it to behead the agent and turn him into a large cloud of smoke. The confusion among the Jaegers intensified, but Guy smiled under his mask. He glanced up at the kunai knife that used to be in the tree just in front of the clearing, and at the new revolutionary standing with the rest and Esdeath. "Is this some kind of sick trick?" Seryu shouted, hurt by a second loss.

Kurome drew her blade. "That's not Esdeath," she said, "it's the shapeshifter that stole Esdeath's last intel drop on the New World."

Seryu fumed, her face turning red from embarrassment and rage. "Then kill them all! We must avenge Kakashi, but watch out for the shapeshifter's blade!"

She led the charge, with the revolutionaries standing strong and ready to fight.

"I love it when they choose to fight back!" Seryu said, charging Najenda.

"Susanoo, Chelsea, get our ride ready," Najenda said calmly, sidestepping Seryu's lunge and throwing a sharp knee strike into the girl's stomach. Koro lunged at her face but she held her hand out like a gun, the hand opening into a phaser that bounced Koro back with a green beam right between the eyes. Najenda spun Seryu to the ground and resumed her fighting stance. "Well?"

Seryu rolled to her feet, brandishing her blade. "I'm not going down that easy, you old witch!"

Bols stomped forward at Mei, revving up his flamethrower and firing a stream of fire at the nimble Kunoichi dancing around it. She darted through his offense and hit him with a palm strike that broke his guard. "You like playing with fire, big man?"

Bols shrugged and kept firing.

"Then you'll really enjoy what I have in store for you," she said, completing a hand sign and summoning lava to swirl around her feet.

"Thousand Mile Flight," Run said, dashing toward Kisame and his imposing blade. "Mastema!" he exclaimed, forming two wide and shining angel wings that he used to fly just over Kisame's slicing height. "How can you defeat me if you can never hit me?"

Kisame grunted, blocking a volley of razor sharp feathers Run whipped at him. "Oh, I'll hit you alright!"

Wave, Guy, and Kurome tailed Kakashi, with Kurome dashing far ahead than the boys. "Sorry," Guy said to Wave, leaping forward and throwing a spin kick.

"Sorry for wha-" Wave's lunch nearly came back up as the hardest kick he'd ever felt nearly cut him in half. "What the hell was that for?"

"I've never been too good at betrayals," Guy said humbly, "but you bet your ass I'm giving this one 110 percent!"

"I thought we were friends! I told you things I've told no one else, Maito!" Wave shouted in a rage.

"We still are friends," Guy said with a smile. "Which is why I'm telling the others not to kill you this time."

Wave spun his blades, focusing them on the Leaf brawler. "Oh, how generous," he sneered, "are you going to go back on that too?"

"You're a good guy," Guy said, "I'd hate to see you on the wrong side of this when the Empire falls."

Kurome too was cutting things in half, but more trees rather than Kakashi's face. Kurome's nose wrinkled at their blades clashing and tilted her head, staring at Kakashi's ANBU mask and his glowing red eye under the black hood concealing his hair. "You look familiar," she said, nearly gutting the Shinobi but he was too fast, sliding through her legs and slashing her thigh. "Have I tried killing you before?"

Kakashi blocked an overhead slash and flipped back, whipping a kunai past her head. She turned to block it but upon turning back there was only a tree stump. She gasped and ducked, stabbing up. Kakashi peed a little with the blade giving him a shave and nothing else, vaulting off her back and landing with his sword sheathed and two kunai in his hands. "I don't usually do rematches," he said in a deeper voice than his own.

"Then show me," Kurome said, pointing her katana down in a beckoning stance, "because I'm starting to get bored."

Kakashi dashed forward, beginning a furious flurry of blades flying freely and fiercely that bounced them around the clearing. "Is this what fighting Akame is like?" he thought to himself, putting her on the defensive with great difficulty. "I must commend you on your skills," he said, cutting through a tent fire and chopping part of her skirt. "Your fluidity, speed, and precision is unreal," he continued, drawing his katana again and clashing in a spark-inducing sword struggle. He let her overturn his blade and he swung upward, making her lean back to avoid the strike. "Too bad you wasted your talents," he said, kicking her square in the chest and slamming her against a tree, "on a cause so dishonorable." He threw up his weapons and formed a hand sign. "Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!" he exclaimed, seeing her eyes shoot open in fear with a jump.

She watched the mud beneath her feet grow hands to pull her into a vulnerable position, and not even her blade cut through the extraordinary arms. A loud barking eased her mind and Koro barreled through the jutsu, allowing her to land without death. She received a huge lick across the cheek from the Teigu. "Aw, good boy! Someone's getting a treat!"

"I didn't wanna admit it, but I could use some help here too!" Wave said, feeling his armor only protect him from some of the damage Guy put into every punch.

"Just put your hip into it," Guy said, dodging a swing of a lance and blade and rising with a strong uppercut that rattled the countryman's vision. "Anybody can master the Strong Fist!" he chuckled, using his momentum to flip around on his hands and deliver another spin kick. "Leaf Coiling Wind!" he exclaimed, denting Wave's Teigu with an onslaught of spinning kicks. Guy jumped up and cocked his fist back over the dazed Wave with a sparkling smile and a fire in his eyes. "Just give up, kid! You're up against an impenetrable, invincible, _in-dom-it-a-ble_ , Spirit of Youth!"

The fist sunk into Wave's cheek, rattling his brain around like the last Tic Tac in the box, blowing him through multiple trees and sending him tumbling over the side of the cliff. Guy darted over to the cliff as fast as he could, throwing an arm down and catching the stunned Jaeger. Wave's arms were too weak to throw a stab up and his ribs screeched at him in pain; all he could do was look up at Guy's annoyingly shiny teeth. "I… need… this… job… mother… is… dying..."

"She'll get her treatment," Guy assured him, his smile fading at the giant dog rushing toward him. "Just not by these guys."

Koro's owner was having a hard time doing anything effective against the leader of Night Raid, getting bounced back or deflected with every strike. "You bit off more than you could chew this time," Najenda said, sending her robot hand flying and grabbing her face, drawing her close for a lethal elbow strike. Blood flew from Seryu's mouth but that didn't stop the Jaeger. She spun her sword around and Najenda caught with ease, sweeping the back of her leg and pinning her onto her back. "Do you have any idea of who I am?"

Seryu spat at Najenda and opened her mouth, surprising the master assassin with a gun's barrel out of her throat. A loud shot rang around the forest and Najenda yelped in pain, feeling a hot tong stab her shoulder and spread all the way down her arm. "A dead bitch!" she barked. She bent her arms backward, revealing two more barrels out of her elbows. "Now do like all good assassins do and run from justice!"

Najenda flipped back, feeling bullets graze her thighs and neck. She darted into the forest for cover and aimed her robot hand like a finger gun, detaching the front of her index finger off and firing it like a rocket. The ballistic dented Seryu's armor and blew her back into Bols, saving him from a gory, magma death by smashing them through a tree. "Thanks," Bols said softly.

"You're welcome, Bols!" Seryu said cheerily, helping him to his feet. "We're not leaving until they're all dead! They must be punished!"

The Jaegers followed that rallying cry. "I've got the emotional support aspect, I'm here for-" Wave tried sitting up to no avail, feeling eight knives poke at his chest. "-oh- oh god, that's broken, I'm- I'm done." He fell back, breathing hard and feeling every limb burn. "I'm done."

"Koro!" Seryu called. "Let's end this!"

Koro charged Guy again, but rather than him barreling through anything in his path, Guy held him in place in a feat of great strength, barking right back at the Teigu. "I know a guy back home who'd love you!"

"Shit, shit, shit," she said, with every curse firing another shot at the assassin using the trees as cheap cover. Seryu dived behind Kakashi and Kurome's clashes, firing through their fight and missing every time. "It's okay Koro, take your time! Once we get back to the castle, you're going to get a nice big bone!"

"You gonna shoot her or talk to your dog?" Kurome asked.

"I can do both," Seryu laughed, firing like a machine gun and razing three trees to the ground.

"Obviously not because you're not hitting anything!" Kurome spat, barely ducking a swing.

"We must keep our heads in the battle!" Run warned, diving toward the feather-filled Samehada to deliver a fatal stab to the shark man. "You never know what the opponent has up their sleeve, every move could be your-" Kisame flipped over Run as he sank his blades into the tree, bearing his sharp and jagged mouth knives with a fell chop. Run's eyes pooled up in shock as the long cut down his back sapped him of any energy he had. "-last," he finished, feeling Kisame's cold, unfeeling hands run through his hair before he was on the ground, looking up at his own body on its knees, spouting blood like a red fountain from his neck.

Kisame laughed. "Oh, I get it! Keep your head in the battle, then he lost it! I love that kind of irony, it keeps this job interesting!"

Seryu screamed in terror, firing a couple buckshot rounds at the Kiri-nin. Kisame looked over the side of the cliff and jumped. Seryu slid behind a bush, watching the cliffside curiously. "Why would he-"

"Everybody, let's get outta here!" Kisame shouted with his raspy voice from over the cliffside, rising up with Susanoo and Chelsea on a giant blue and grey flying amphibious creature resembling a stingray. "Job's done and I'm hungry, put your toys away and hop on!"

Kakashi sidestepped a downward strike and slapped a flash bomb on her back, turning away from her ready to run while the Jaegers were blinded. He stopped just short of the cliffside as a thought smacked him in the forehead. He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the tracking bracelet that would lead Esdeath right to their doorstep if he left with it on. The only question was how he was going to get it off. "I can't pull it off," he told himself, "maybe I can slide it?" He closed his eyes, praying that fiery death wouldn't take him if he moved the bracelet toward his hand. He moved it at a snail's pace, his Sharingan on full hyperdrive to keep his surgeon precision to keep the band from stretching out. He ran the bracelet up his hand, stopping on the joint of his thumb. " _Fuck_."

"I'll get you, you bastards!" Seryu screamed. "Koro, eat them alive!"

Kakashi looked at his thumb and he knew what he had to do. He took a few quick, deep breaths and grasped his thumb. "Okay, okay, alright, okay-"

"Get over here! Hurry!" Najenda shouted, wincing at what he did next.

Kakashi screamed in pain as he torqued and twisted his thumb, dislocating it with a loud pop and a crunch. Kakashi grit his teeth, folding his thumb in on his hand to shimmy the bracelet off and drop it on the ground. He whipped it back at Koro and shielded himself again from the powerful but small burst in the dog's face, doing little more than just pissing it off. Kakashi raced toward the cliff again with Koro right behind him, his hot breath running down Kakashi's neck as a sign of impending doom. He jumped off the side, hearing Koro's teeth click together right behind his head. He landed on the ray's tail with his good hand, looking down at the river shrinking at an alarming rate. He looked back up, seeing the face of a pale young woman with long, wavy auburn hair, bright red eyes and a playful smile with a lollipop in her mouth, grabbing his arm and pulling him up onto the ray. "Hi," he said, squeezing his eyes shut with a yelp as he popped his thumb back into place with a sharp pain running up his arm. "Sorry you had to see that."

The woman chuckled at it, examining his hand. "Is there anything else of yours out of place?"

"No, I hope," Kakashi said, "we'll find out."

"I'm Chelsea," the woman said, her voice easy to listen to but had presence. "Susanoo and I are here to help out Night Raid- I'm sorry about Bulat."

Kakashi followed the slim, curvy woman wearing red and white headphones, a white long sleeve shirt with the collar tied with a red ribbon under a black vest a red checkered mini skirt, and black leather below-the-knee boots to the center of the ray. "Thank you," Kakashi said, "we're all going to give one to the Empire, just for him."

Chelsea shrugged, turning from him to walk to the head of the ray. "We'll just have to be more competent than he was, to avoid making similar mistakes."

That was an eyebrow raiser. "You were making a good impression at first…"

"Oh, don't take it the wrong way," she said, turning back to him with a saddened smile. "I'm here because my squadron was taken out by Esdeath's beasts while I was away on a mission, I'm thankful to be alive and just want all of my teammates to see this through to the end." Her bright smile faded as she bent her head down, the shadow covering her eyes. "I don't say it because I'm uncaring, I say it because it pisses people off enough to train harder and prove me wrong." She looked up again with a piercing red glare. "I've heard great things about you, Kakashi, don't let me down."

"I'm sorry, about your squadron," Kakashi said, seeing the sincerity in her eyes, "I'm looking forward to working together."

"I'm sure you'll get along just fine," Najenda said, "welcome back, Kakashi. Who's your friend?"

Might Guy grinned at him, sitting down with the other two ninja, playing cards. "The name's Might Guy," he said, "mortal rival and best friend of the world renowned Kakashi of the Sharingan."

Najenda's eyes lit up at the prospect of another Leaf ninja among Night Raid's ranks. "You are ANBU as well?"

Guy chuckled. "Nope, just the world's most enthusiastic and competitive volunteer."

The assassins laughed, except for Susanoo, fixated on Kakashi's face mask. Susanoo darted toward the Shinobi, towering over him with an intimidating glare. Kakashi looked up, expecting something dynamic and bond-forming. "Yes?"

Susanoo's hands flew toward his face, tucking every strand of silvery-white hair that hung over the mask back where it belonged. Susanoo sighed. "Fixed."

Kakashi stood there stunned and confused, unable to formulate a proper explanation. "...what?"

"Susanoo is my organic type Teigu," Najenda said proudly, "along with his warrior capabilities, he'll do a great deal for the house, particularly the chores, so we can focus on taking the Empire down."

"An organic type Teigu?" Kakashi said, shaking hands with the amazing tool. "Incredible."

"Isn't it?" Najenda said. "He and Chelsea will catalyze the Empire's demise."

"Then you must be the shapeshifter," Kakashi said, turning to Chelsea and seeing Esdeath's kissy face. He yelped and hopped back onto the edge of the ray, nearly falling off.

"Oh no, oh no!" Chelsea laughed, morphing back into herself and catching Kakashi again before he fell. "Sorry, I didn't expect it to be that bad!"

"I'll get you back, count on it!" Kakashi proclaimed, walking toward the circle of cards. "Glad to be back, Najenda."

"Leone missed you," Najenda said, sitting with them. "She missed you a lot."

Susanoo and Chelsea joined them, watching the sunset over the river. "OoOoOoOoOoh!" Guy teased, poking Kakashi in the cheek. "Who's Leone?"

Kakashi blushed. "Najenda, I'm sure you're interested in the information Guy and I procured-"

Mei sighed, clasping her hands with hearts in her eyes. "Kakashi Hatake, ninja, spy, lover, you must tell us!" She fell in his lap, throwing her head back dramatically. "Oh, how I love romance stories! Maybe one day, I will be the star of one, get married, have many beautiful children, and-"

"You're dropping all of my cards!" Kisame roared, rousing a laugh around the ray.

Nightfall shrouded the ray as it dropped among the trees, sailing straight for a two level, German-style house with a stable, chimney, and crows nest were Lubbock waited for them with a pair of binoculars. "This is the new hideout?" Kakashi asked, hopping off the ray and onto a gravel road leading up to the front door.

"The old one's location was discovered by one of Esdeath's elites, Doctor Stylish," Najenda said, "we chased him off and he said he was going to come back-" she smirked at the two ninja joining them. "-but I bet you two had something to do with that."

Kakashi glared at Guy. "Yeah, we did."

Najenda knocked on the door and a slit opened up to a pair of big, golden eyes.

"Hi, Leone," Kakashi said.

The slit closed and the sound of twenty lock mechanisms being undone told the group at the door to stand back. The door flew open and a golden flash tackled Kakashi to the ground, planting kisses all over his face. "I was so worried about you, I wanted to rescue you every day, you have no idea!"

Guy's jaw dropped at the fierce, thick blonde bombshell hugging Kakashi's arm and dragging him into the house. "I should have become an ANBU…" he whispered to himself, heading in last. The house was warm, bright and cozy, built of stone and logs with a roaring fireplace and comfy furniture around it.

"Best part about the house is that everyone gets their own bathroom," Leone said, giddily squeezing him again. "I'm so happy to see you again!"

"I missed you too, Leone," Kakashi said with a heavy blush as he joined her and Najenda through the kitchen and into the backyard. His eyes shot open at the site, seeing a wide field with training dummies sprawled across the training grounds in front of a spacious hot springs, inviting him in with the steam rising from the surface of the water. "We have a hot spring here?!"

"Open your eyes?" Mine's scolding voice said from behind him, walking out in a pink bathing suit with Sheele in a purple one and soaking in the water.

"Who are you?" Sheele asked Guy who stood in front of Lubbock and Akame as they eyed him curiously.

"My best friend from home," Kakashi said, punching him in the arm. "He's a really good fighter, we were in Esdeath's mansion together."

"Might Guy, at your service," he said, showing his twinkling smile to Akame. Her small smile at his nearly goofy grin made Guy feel right at home.

"I'm Akame, this is Lubbock," she said, "we're glad you could make it."

"I'm sure you two have a lot of stories to tell," Lubbock said, feeling Guy's handshake nearly crush his hand.

"Before any stories," Kakashi said, pulling out a folded piece of paper. The team gathered round, watching a detailed map unfold right before their eyes. "This is every entry and exit of Esdeath's mansion, getting to the castle itself from here will be a breeze with this map."

Najenda took it from, studying it intensely for any mismark. "How did you get your hands on this? Did you make this yourself?"

Kakashi and Guy laughed tiredly, remembering all that happened the night before. "That's part of the story itself," he said, "have a seat."

* * *

Esdeath solemnly shook hands with the leader of the New World village she ransacked before her return in a small conference room, letting the clouds overhead shade her face in grey from the window. "We are excited to have you join our cause," she said, meeting the leader's golden eyes and serpent-like grin. Unlike her aids, she wasn't frightened by his lanky figure and sickly white skin. "Please excuse me if I seem melancholy," she said, "I recently lost someone very close to me, cut down with his body lost somewhere in the river."

"My condolences, General," he said with a hiss. "I assure you, your men and my projects will be more than enough for you to claim your revenge. I've personally dealt with their types before, but the mouse can only run so far before the snake swallows him whole."

"I'm not in the mood," Esdeath scolded, making the temperature in the room drop ten degrees. "How many of your experiments can you transfer to our laboratories to begin field testing? I want Night Raid gone so we can focus on the invasion. It appears they possess an extraordinary individual, who fights like a demon."

He tapped his chin, smiling again. "100."

Esdeath glared at him, her nails digging into the desk. "That's it?"

"Kukukuku…" he chuckled hauntingly, "believe me, General," he said, "that is all we will need to take down this 'extraordinary individual' of yours."

"Any history of defection?" Esdeath drilled.

"Just two," he said, his eyes studying her carefully, "they're both puppets of Konoha now, but this batch is different and those two were quickly replaced. They are hardwired to serve you until they are cut down."

Esdeath pulled out a scroll, unrolling it to reveal a contract. She pulled a knife out from her pocket and pricked her thumb, signing the bottom in blood. "If I end up needing to cut your experiments down myself, you know what that means for you, yes?"

He pricked his thumb too, placing it next to her stain. "I never go back on my word."

"We will see," she said, "Orochimaru."

* * *

 **Y'ALL WERE EXPECTING A LEMON WEREN'T YA**

 **U NASTIES**

 **SOON THO**

 **ANYWAY**

 **REVIEW/SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS/WHATEVER TICKLES YOUR PICKLE**


	13. Kill the Secret

**I'M BACK BITCHES BUT LIKE AGAIN**

 **A/N BELOW**

 **THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE [INSERT HEART EMOJI HERE]**

* * *

 _The Forest_

"You know, Janet," the huntsman said with a burly laugh, shuffling through the door with a dead stag and a rifle over his broad, muscular shoulders, "rumors say there's a new kind of Danger Beast running amok in our neck of these woods." He wore a warm, comfortable lumberjack's red plaid shirt and thick, rugged khakis with suspenders and black boots. His thick, curly, brown chest hair could be seen just barely over the top of his white undershirt. He was a mountain of a man with a heartwarming smile, fluffy brown beard, and warm brown eyes reflecting the roar of the stone fireplace of their little log cabin in the woods. There was a hot stove over the corner next to a clear table set up for him to skin and cook the dinner he just brought home to his petite, pretty housewife with brown hair in a braid, stirring some potatoes in a pot while holding a baby sleeping peacefully in her arm.

"Oh, really?" Janet said with concern. "I thought the Jaegers cleared them out already, didn't one of them die recently?"

The huntsman set the deer down. "Yes, but I'm not sure by what. I just don't want you heading to market by yourself, at least until the thing is found or the rumor's proven a hoax."

She smiled at him, shaking her head. "I know, dear. You don't need to worry about-" She noticed a black flash zoom past the window and her face went pale, dropping the spoon and clutching the baby.

The huntsman turned around, looking out the window. All he saw was the dark forest, and the eyes of owls in the trees wide with their natural caution. "What is it, dear?" he said, turning to face her again with a blank expression. "They're just owls."

"No, not that," she said, "I saw _something_ out there, a black- _thing_ just across the window there."

The huntsman jumped a little with a playful knock at the door. "I bet it was nothing, but I'll take a look outside, nothing to worry about." He walked up to the door, hearing another knock. "Hello? Who's there?" He received no answer and turned back to his wife, nodding with a grimace. He pointed his rifle at the door, hearing a third knock. "If this a prank, it isn't funny!"

Janet let out a blood curdling scream at the window and the baby woke crying with her, startling the man who sharply turned toward the window. The glass shattered and a gray, winged creature shot inside, slicing through the lumberjack just as the rifle went off. Janet watched in terror as her protector's head rolled off his body, blood spewing from his all over the cabin floor as her child screeched in her ear. "What d-do you want?!" she asked the tall, gray humanoid with a lanky, skinny frame, long, wispy gray hair, bright yellow, sunken in eyes and a wide, demented grin from ear to ear. He wore a headband under his scraggly bangs with a metal forehead protector bearing a musical note emblem, with long, black nails that spun kunai around on them. His wide wings were fleshy and slick with her husband's blood with horns on the end, spreading them out so Janet could see him in his full horror.

"What do we want?" he hissed with a smooth, very eerie and human voice as two more creatures just like him entered the room. She noted one similarity among the three of them: a triple tomoe circle in a black, swirling pattern, except the one in the middle's tomoe looked like wavy lines. "We don't want anything in particular," he said with a smile, stepping forward and reaching for the child. Sharp bones pushed from his palms and fingers, generating fire, ice, and lightning on the tips. "Just having some fun."

* * *

 _The Empire_

"Thanks to you and your new Oriental friend, the crime rate in and around the Empire has never been lower," a tall slug of a man with pale, wrinkly skin, beady yellow eyes, long, unkempt gray hair, and a mouth that spread from ear to ear angrily chomping on a mutton chop said with a stuffy, British accent.

"That's right, Prime Minister," a young, wide-eyed boy said, sitting on a throne wearing extravagant purple robes with a tall, purple and gold crown. He had straight green hair in a bowl cut with bangs sweeping over his green eyes, he looked like he was no older than thirteen but his scepter that he carried in his left hand making Esdeath and Orochimaru kneel before the red carpeted marble steps leading up to his throne in his wide, open throne room supported by white pillars demanded higher respect than any adult. "Night Raid hasn't been seen since the river incident two weeks ago when that Jaeger betrayed you, we are quite pleased with your work."

Esdeath smiled graciously. "Yes, once I discover the whereabouts of their new hideout then I shall avenge my love's death but only after punishing them for daring to go against the will of the Empire, my Emperor."

"We certainly have the utmost faith in you, general," the young emperor said with an innocent grin on his face, the expression going weaker as he addressed her other point. "Sadly, we haven't had much headway in finding a new suitor that matches your criteria yet. However, the minister does have an unmarried son- he has potential!"

Esdeath's sad, blue eyes kept to the ground. "Emperor, that position has been filled and still is."

The Emperor blinked. "But, wasn't he killed in the line of duty?"

"No one found a body," she said, making Orochimaru smirk a serpent's smug smile. "Some saw him go, but no one found where he went. I investigated that same river bend for five days straight, not even a change in the water was detected. No one even saw him hit the water, he just vanished, _after_ he died. The mystery, the pursuit, it's made me want him even more. This love is unfamiliar to me, and as foolish as it sounds, I wholeheartedly believe he's alive somewhere, recuperating, recovering just for me."

The Emperor sighed dreamily. "How intriguing," he said, starry eyed.

"Not as much as you think, my liege," the Prime Minister said, walking down the stairs and bowing to him, "but if he is alive, we will find him. May we be excused?"

The Emperor tapped his scepter. "Of course."

Esdeath and Orochimaru stood up, following the Prime Minister out of the throne room and into a long corridor with one side completely glass to watch the sun set over the hills. Orochimaru noted what Esdeath had mentioned about her suitor with a knowing side glance, staying quiet while the Prime Minister spoke. "It seems you've rubbed off on the boy with the action-packed, romantic life you're leading," he chortled, inhaling a piece of mutton far too big for his mouth and swallowing it like a bird. "That and my lessons in business and debauchery, he'll live a life only read about in books."

Esdeath chuckled. "Just don't allow him to fall into any bad habits."

The Prime Minister nodded, his head and neck one and the same with his sliding, greasy triple chin. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about, general: recently there has been an alarming uptick in deaths in the countryside, reports from the few survivors call them Danger Beasts but their descriptions of anything but, they look like humans but they're gray, and have wings!"

Orochimaru chuckled with his mouth closed as he continued his description.

"Some even describe their powers with the elements, completely outlandish and irrational, I know," the Prime Minister continued, "but troubling nonetheless."

Esdeath glared at Orochimaru. "Do you know anything about this?"

Orochimaru kept his eyes to the ceiling as they walked. "They're mine. I let them out a few nights ago as a field test."

"What were the results?" Esdeath asked, showing no concern for the dead.

"100 went out, 100 came back, 300 dead, and they're out searching for Night Raid right now," Orochimaru stated, almost with pride. "I do apologize, Prime Minister- I should have told you."

"Oh!" he laughed. "Well that's great news!"

Orochimaru's smile faded, seeing bits of meat fly from the man's mouth and onto the floor as they walked. "Yes, it is."

"Then I will leave you to it, and do not disappoint!" he said, turning a corner and leaving them down the hallway alone.

They walked in silence for a few seconds with Orochimaru's knowing smirk growing again. "Your beloved," he hissed, "tell me about him."

Esdeath shot him an icy glare. "Why would you want to know?"

Orochimaru looked forward, keeping his smirk for her to see. "The evidence doesn't add up to a murder in cold blood, at least the murder of a normal warrior. I'd say he is very much alive, and I have a hunch as to how he got away."

Esdeath scowled. "He would never run away from me! His feelings for me are true!"

Orochimaru couldn't hold back his laughter. "Then you do not know how we operate, General," he said, stopping her cold in the hallway. "You have a Shinobi in your midst."

* * *

 _The Hideout_

Tatsumi and Guy fell into stance opposite each other under a roaring waterfall covering a hidden bridge and a stone path to their hideout, with Susanoo testing out Samehada's durability with Kisame wielding it. Kakashi and Mei appeared above the two optimistic, young warriors as black, silver, red, and blue blurs, surprising Tatsumi and Susanoo with Kakashi's incredible ninja reflexes and speed. Neither of them were using their full capabilities either in case anyone was watching, Tatsumi would never forget what he saw them do on that ship. " _Ikuso,_ " Kakashi said sharply, running up a tree and deflecting several hot palm strikes to his face. He caught her arms and flipped her onto the tree as well, the duo scaling it with a supernatural force Tatsumi would never understand just to spar as if they were vertical.

"Come on, Kakashi," Mei taunted, "I know you can do better than that!"

"Damn this sword _rocks!_ " Kisame laughed. "If I knew that I'd love it this much, Fuguki would have been dead _way_ sooner!"

"It seems to like you too," Susanoo said, ducking a slash and returning his own long blade at his face. Kisame leaned to the side, feeling the wind from the force of his mighty and deadly swing. "You're the only one among us who can hold it, not even Leone could handle it."

"It's not about who's got the toughest skin," Kisame said, parrying a strike and backhanding Susanoo. His hand hurt upon impact but the wall of Night Raid still moved. "It's all about the Chakra, and this puppy happens to like mine a lot."

"I see," Susanoo said observantly, "but why do you keep it bandaged?"

Kisame chuckled. "So it doesn't take your chakra on accident, at least minimizing what it's raking in."

Guy waited for Tatsumi to look away and that's when he charged the boy in Bulat's armor. He planted his fist into his chest, blowing him to the edge of the bridge. "Keep your eye on the opponent at all times, Tatsumi! Do you want to get killed?"

Tatsumi felt the pain radiate from his chest to his head rattled from the blow. Tatsumi rolled to his feet, brandishing his blade. "You'll want to grab a weapon, Guy."

Guy smiled confidently, giving him a thumb up while charging. "I won't need it, kid!"

Tatsumi blinked and the green beast as right in front of him. Tatsumi thrust forward but Guy was already ten feet in the air, the sun casting a black silhouette over him minus the pearly white grin as she shot down, hitting his head hard with a dropping heel kick. "Ow! Hey, I thought we said no hitting to the head!"

" _You_ said that because you have a sword," Guy said, shaking his finger. " _You_ are the one not being fair here, buddy."

"Everyone," Akame said from the entrance to the path, halting the three training sessions. "There's an emergency back at the base- we need everyone back, now."

"An emergency?" Tatsumi said, deactivating the Teigu. "What for?"

"There's been a string of murders connected to Danger Beasts around the countryside," she said, "the issue is that these deaths look more like a human did it. Before that, we've reoccupied one of our puppet bases, it looks just like the old one."

"We're moving again?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, I know we all like this place a lot," she said, sounding a little disappointed herself, "but with the Jaegers sweeping our territory and your 'death,' it's imperative that we stay on the move."

The six warriors followed Akame back to the cabin they called home for the past short while and within several hours the entire Assassin's crew stood in front of a base identical to their first one on the other side of the country. "Does this one have a hot springs in it too?" Mei asked.

"Of course," Leone said, "to celebrate we should get smashed!"

Chelsea threw up her fist. "I like the sound of that!"

"Hey everybody!" Lubbock shouted, running up a smooth, rocky incline to the base hidden among the trees and under a plateau. "Najenda! My perimeter is set up!"

"Okay," she said with a small grin.

"And the traps are set," Susanoo said.

"Very nice work, Susanoo!" Najenda said, making Lubbock feel very small.

"Why do I even bother?" he asked himself.

Najenda led the group inside, reclaiming her seat as top assassin to face her fellow revolutionaries and spies. "I hate to send you all out again so soon," she said, "but your next job is to take out the Danger Beasts I mentioned to Akame. We don't know very much about them at the moment, but their trail of destruction is unlike anything we've seen before… and they're targeting our Revolutionary bases."

Mine folded her arms. "What you're saying is that you think they're attacking them on purpose."

"But how can a Danger Beast have a radical sociopolitical stance passionate enough to attack us?" Lubbock asked.

"According to the Empire, the Jaegers are doing everything they can," Najenda said, accenting her disbelief, "but with Esdeath on point, it's hard to believe that they wouldn't have killed one already."

"Wouldn't we be helping the bastards by taking this job?" Kisame scoffed. "Let 'em get eaten."

"As long as innocents are getting killed then it's up to us to stop them," Tatsumi said, glaring at the shark man for his callousness. "If we help the Empire, so be it. This is a special case."

"Agreed," Akame said, "and if we run into the Empire, we let them engage us first."

"I agree with Kisame on this one," Chelsea said, leaning against the wall with her arms folded. "Let the Jaegers off themselves first, we're already cleaning up one giant mess, what's another stain on the carpet?"

"People who are not involved in our conflict are dying," Sheele argued, "they don't deserve it."

"We might be assassins," Kakashi said, "but that blood's on our hands if we don't get involved."

Mei rolled her eyes. "Enough with the theatrics," she said. "We're going to take them out, alright? If the Empire wants to have a problem with that, let them-"

"Kakashi!" Susanoo snapped, silencing the room. "Pull up your pants!"

Kakashi looked down, seeing his fly down and his pants undone. " _Nani?!_ "

Mei pointed and laughed. "Remember when I faked you out during training and you thought you dodged? I didn't think it would take you so long to notice!"

"Got 'em!" Leone laughed while Kakashi busily fixed his pants, glaring at the group while the laughter died down.

"I hate all of you," he hissed.

"I would gladly help you," Akame said from behind, making him jump.

"We have to decide teams of two," Najenda said, cutting through all the chatter. "I have to take a casualty list of those killed by the Danger Beasts so I'm afraid you're on your own. Spread out, if any of you get caught we can't have you all in one place."

The 12 assassins all looked at each other, waiting for someone to begin the claiming frenzy. "Sheele, it's been awhile since we've fought together!" Mine said, pointing a finger gun at her. "It'll be like old times!"

"Then it's you and me, big guy," Tatsumi said, punching Susanoo in the arm. "Sheele and I can raise hell later, I wanna see what you can do!"

Mei and Kisame simply nodded to each other, Kisame hefting Samehada over his shoulder with a shark's smile. Kakashi backed up as Leone and Akame cornered him. "Akame, Leone, you two will go together," Najenda said, crushing both of their nefarious plots. "Chelsea will go with Kakashi."

Chelsea smirked at them both, slipping through and taking Kakashi away by his arm. Guy turned to Lubbock with his trademark shiny, youthful smile. "And that leaves us, Lubbock. Together we will vanquish those Danger Beasts and bring this Empire to sweet, sweet justice."

"Yeah, that's great," Lubbock said dismissively, watching the girls and their partners leave the hideout. Their duo traveled through the forest until nightfall, finding themselves scaling the rocky cliffside shrouded by a thin veil of mist. They could see for the most part, but it was cold and fostered paranoia, especially since they were watching out for the Empire. Lubbock struggled to keep up with Guy's brisk yet silent jogging up the rocks, moving with such agility effortlessly that Lubbock could have sworn he was running on air. "Why'd I get paired up with you again? Najenda picked everybody else's partner."

Guy looked back, jogging in place so Lubbock could catch up. "Why _wouldn't_ you put the Green Beasts of Night Raid, beautiful yet fierce, graceful yet strong, on one team?"

"That," Lubbock said, now just more confused, "doesn't answer my question."

"I notice you're the only one out of the team that calls the boss by her name," Guy said, running alongside him. "I'm guessing you and her know each other fairly well, or maybe-" He leaned in with a suggestive smirk, nudging Lubbock's elbow. "You'd like to know each other a little better if you know what I mean."

Lubbock looked down and sighed. "I mean, I guess. It's the only thing I'm not good at, I guess."

"What do you mean?" Guy asked. "Tell me your tale, make some gains while you work through your pains, friend."

Lubbock let out a defeated laugh. Guy had a way of making him do that, even when he didn't want to. "Well, when I was younger I lived in the countryside, the heir of a wealthy merchant who had everything one could ever want. I was the best at everything I did, school, sports, you name it. The world was boring, frankly-"

"That sounds _awful_ ," Guy cut in, looking genuinely sympathetic. "No challenge, no goal to-"

"I'm not finished!" Lubbock snapped.

"Sorry."

Silence.

Lubbock cleared his throat. "I felt like there was nothing that would push me to my limit, that is until _she_ showed up in my town when she worked for the Empire as one of their top soldiers." He sighed. "I joined the army immediately, that day," he said, "clawing my way to the top just to get closer to her. Soon we became the top brigade leaders in all the Empire, even Esdeath recognized our talent, but when Najenda left for the revolution, so did I." He chuckled, the irony mixing with the bitterness in the back of his throat that he shoved off. "Hell, I forged my records to make them think I was dead, but," he shrugged, "she doesn't feel the same. It's unrequited, but as long as she's happy, I am too."

Guy sniffled. "Get back in there!" he growled to the tear strolling down his cheek, summoning all of his willpower to suck the tear back into his eye. "Look, Lubbock," Guy said, putting his arm around his shoulder. "Women are like flowers sometimes," he said, panning his other arm across the night sky, "they need love, attention, and care just like anybody else, but some that bloom don't need you to pick them, no matter how beautiful their petals are. You both know just what you need from each other, nothing more, and that's perfectly okay."

Lubbock followed his hand looking into the stars, seeing Najenda smiling from afar among them and fading away. "That was… surprisingly uplifting and profound," Lubbock said, "thank you, Guy-"

"But _damn_ , she is a fox," Guy said, biting his bottom lip, "a total bombshell!"

Lubbock's hopeful smile faded. "Guy, I don't think-"

"Purple eyes, that spunky hair cut, playful smile, the eyepatch is pretty hot too but I don't know why for that one," Guy said with a chuckle. "Sure, there are many other fish in the sea but what a catch on a boat she'd be, huh?"

Lubbock sighed. "Guy…"

"Strong, sarcastic, smart, funny," Guy said, "what a gal. You'll be okay though, buddy- I'll turn you into the shining prime example of youth and power in no time."

" _Incursio!_ " Tatsumi bellowed off in the distance, snapping them back into the mission.

"Shit," Lubbock grimaced, turning toward the noise, "that's Tatsumi! He's in trouble!"

Guy looked down toward the woods the cliff sides overlooked, seeing a gray and red flash through the woods heading in the direction of the noise. "He's certainly a subtle assassin."

"It was a cry for help, Guy!" Lubbock said.

"Then throw up a flare," Guy said, jumping off the cliff.

Lubbock looked down, kicking the rocks. "How am I supposed to get down?!" he shouted.

Guy jumped back onto the cliffside, squatting with his back facing Lubbock. "Get on."

Lubbock sighed and climbed on, bounding through the woods on Guy until they caught up to the secret ninja and the rebel in on his mission. Guy turned to Kakashi and the wolf nodded to him. Tatsumi let out a battle cry in the distance and the sounds of swords clashing kunai could be heard in the distance. Kakashi's eyes widened and he turned to Guy.

" _Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"_ a shrill and demonic voice shouted, followed by Tatsumi's shouts as he powered through it.

"We have to move!" Kakashi said, taking Chelsea's hands and jumping into the trees.

"Wait, what the hell?!" Lubbock said in surprise, watching the silver-haired "countryman" bound from branch to branch like Guy on the rocks, walking on air.

"Sorry, buddy!" Guy said, throwing him hard to the ground and following after him.

"Hey!" Lubbock shouted behind them, trying desperately to keep up. "Wait up!"

Guy looked at Kakashi with great concern. "Who else is here?" Guy asked. "It's us, Kirigakure we know, but no one I've ever met there knows the fireball jutsu."

"Intel said there was another ally Esdeath was working with after you sabotaged the meeting on the ship," Chelsea said, "it's possible we're about to meet them."

They came upon the source of the fighting in the middle of a thick tangle of trees, the shade overhead making patches of the forest pitch black. There was enough light to see why Tatsumi and a bloodied Susanoo were back to back, with three sickly-looking, bony, gray humanoids with golden, sunken in eyes, fangs, curly horns, dead blue lips and long, unruly gray and white hair wearing black flak uniforms just like the ones Kakashi's fellow Shinobi would sport back home spinning kunai knives around their long, bony, clawed fingers. They surrounded the two assassins, closing in ever so slowly. "Looks like the big one's about to drop, Shinji!" the only girl of the trio shouted to the tallest, meanest looking guy with the fire from his jutsu giving his throat an orange glow.

"Don't you touch him, Kaede, that's _my_ kill," Shinji shouted with the rattle in his voice Kakashi heard from earlier. "That goes for you too, Daisuke."

"Aww, come on!" the shorter, even skinnier and gaunt man whined. "You get all the fun ones! Let me take this one!"

Kakashi noted two things that disturbed him. "Guy, see those forehead protectors?"

"Yeah, I see them," Guy said, "I've never seen that kind before- where do you think they're from?"

"I don't think we're going to find out from these guys," Chelsea said, morphing into part of one of the trees before their eyes.

"That's so cool!" Guy exclaimed under his breath.

"Keep them busy, I'll drop in when I can."

"Stealth, I see," Guy said, "not like the loud and clumsy Shinobi over-"

"Guy!" Kakashi hissed, pulling him into the ring of fighters.

"Hey guys, boy am I glad to see you here," Tatsumi said, sighing in relief. "We'd better end this quickly, Susanoo isn't looking too good."

"I'm fine," Susanoo growled, keeping his eye on Shinji.

Kakashi noted the second similarity among the three, a triple tomoe marking in a circular, black, swirling pattern on the side of their necks. He locked eyes with Shinji through the ANBU mask, pulling out one kunai at him. "Are you going to tell us what the hell you're doing here, or am I going to have to beat it out of you?"

Shinji gasped at the mask, letting out a chilling laugh. "No way! Kaede, Daisuke, are you seeing this?"

Kaede almost squealed in excitement. "An ANBU came for us, the boss was right!"

"Where's he from?" Daisuke asked.

"He's the White Wolf of the Leaf, you idiot!" Shinji snapped, cracking his knuckles while Kakashi silently drew his sword.

"Yeah? Who's his lackey?" Kaede asked, furrowing the bushy brows.

"He looks like that Might Duy guy," Daisuke said.

"I'm not a _lackey_ ," Guy said, "I'm going to beat your ass for that before I beat your ass for what I actually want to beat your ass for, a pre-ass kicking ass kicking, if you will!"

Kaede scoffed. "Sounds like him too."

"A mole for Konoha is here," Shinji chuckled, "the Hokage's telling everyone that they're fighting a defensive war."

"Knowledge is only worth something when you're alive to share it," Kakashi said, performing multiple hand signals and staring right at Shinji. "It was foolish to only bring three of you to a fight."

"Only three?" Shinji laughed. "What makes you say-" Shinji noticed the red glow from under the mask under one eye and his laughter faded. "An Uchiha, huh? It won't take more than me to take you down."

Kakashi and Shinji vanished into the darkness, the sounds of swords and kunais revitalizing the warriors again. "Come on, little man!" Guy shouted, charging Daisuke head on.

Kaede giggled at Susanoo and Tatsumi, letting them lunge toward her with Chelsea waiting to drop on her for the kill from the trees. "Shall we continue?"

* * *

 **HOW POWERFUL ARE THESE THREE "DANGER BEASTS?"**

 **WILL OUR FIVE HEROES PREVAIL?**

 **WHAT DOES THE HEADBAND SHINJI WORE SIGNIFY?**

 **WILL OROCHIMARU SPILL THE BEANS ON KAKASHI? WILL ESDEATH BELIEVE HIM? OTHER QUESTIONS/PREDICTIONS/COMMENTS/CONCERNS? PM/REVIEW!**

 **OK A COUPLE THINGS**

 **-THE NEW FACE OF JUSTICE IS DONE SO THIS WILL BE UPDATED A COUPLE TIMES BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS, I HOPE TO FINISH IT BEFORE THAT THOUGH**

 **-I'LL BE FOCUSING ON MY OTHER STORIES TOO BUT NOT AS MUCH AS THIS ONE, CONSIDER THIS THE MAIN PROJECT**

 **-I'M GOING TO FINISH THIS BEFORE CHRISTMAS MORE THAN LIKELY**

 **-ALSO THE FIVE STORIES I PLAN ON UPLOADING HAVE BEEN PUT ON HOLD, I NEED TO MAKE A TIMELINE FIRST**

 **-CHAPTER 14 UP IN A FEW DAYS**


	14. Kill the Strangers

**I OWN NOTHING**

* * *

Shinji and Kakashi flew past each other in a flash of silver blades, cuts opening on Shinji's cheek and Kakashi's thigh. "You're fast," Shinji said, turning to face him but seeing him no longer there, "the Uchihas always have been."

Shinji watched a leaf fall in front of him, seeing a quick glimpse of a silver line off the reflection of the dew warn him of the throwing star that would have impaled the back of his head. He ducked the shot and whipped around, feeling a kick in his back from the silver streak Shinobi. Shinji rolled to his feet and took another kick across the face, making him stumble back. For Kakashi, it felt like trying to kick through a tree. "What's your special ability?" Kakashi said. "You can take hits but you can't throw them back?"

Shinji responded with a punch to the chest that sent the Shinobi tumbling into the bushes. He threw a follow up hail of kunai but Kakashi was no longer there, tearing into him with a cut right below his neck. Kakashi noted the blood wasn't human, but was black and moved like syrup. Whatever these things were, they weren't human, maybe they used to be. "Why are you here, White Wolf?"

Kakashi took a slash to the arm and a kick to the stomach, blasting him into the trees. Shinji followed him and the two skilled combatants danced around the branches to a stalking Chelsea's discontent. "If I could tell you, I wouldn't be wearing the mask." He performed a series of hand signs, backpedaling from treetop to treetop with his eyes kept solely on his opponent.

Shinji threw a fatal thrust but Kakashi ducked, rising hard with a knee strike to the chin that knocked him above the trees. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" he exclaimed, blowing a fireball head-on at the mysterious man.

"A fireball? That's it?" Shinji laughed, gliding out of the way. "I expected far better from Konoha!"

Kakashi's eyes widened at the red swelling in his chest, black flames swirling up from his black tomoe seal all the way to his throat. He leaped from the trees as a black fireball mimicking his own crashed into the treetop, leaving a ring of black destruction in its wake. "Is he an Uchiha?" Kakashi asked himself. "Or is he just copying me?"

Shinji darted toward Kakashi, matching the Shinobi's speed with his brute strength. Kakashi spun behind a tree to dodge a kick and heard it crunch under the blow, falling over with a painful snap. "I'm no Shinobi, if you needed to ask," Shinji said, "nor am I a 'Danger Beast,' whatever that means." Shinji ducked a kick and roared upward with a black, fiery uppercut. "I am Shinji of the Black Flame, and I'm going to burn you and all of Night Raid to ashes!"

He drew both hands to his size and crouched, spiking a black ball of fire between his hands.

" _Katon: Nenshō Furasshu!_ " Shinji shouted, sending out a thick pillar of black fire that burned a hole through the forest.

"He can do it without hand signs?" Guy said in shock, watching Kakashi run from the wave.

Shinji laughed maniacally, watching the Shinobi hop from tree to tree. A branch snapped under his weight and he hit the ground hard, his heart pounding as the wave hurdled toward him. "Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole!" he announced, completing his hand sign and sinking through the ground.

Shinji ran up to the hole, making the mistake of looking where Kakashi was and not where he was going to be. He let out a high-pitched, inhuman outcry as a buzzing blade sunk into his shoulder. "If you're going to kill me," he roared, whipping around and backhanding the ninja across the clearing. "Do it right!"

"Oh, well," Kakashi said, skidding to a halt and feeling his jaw click back into place, "now that you said something, I feel more motivated to try."

"That's it, my man," Guy said with a hearty laugh, dodging punches with ease. "Get serious!"

Kakashi sighed. "It's called sarcasm!"

"I'm going to pretend like it's not because _damn it_ I'm one hell of a motivator," Guy said, "ball's in your court, Shinobi." He swept Daisuke off his feet, cocking his leg back for a rock crushing kick. "And my foot's up your ass!"

Daisuke squealed from the kick sending him high into the sky. Guy watched him ascend higher and higher, squinting as he faded into the night sky.

"Maybe I kicked him too hard," Guy asked with a hint of guilt, slapping it away with a shaking fist and a firm conviction. "No, it is him who is wrong."

"You are dealing with Daisuke, the, uh, well I don't really have a good name like Shinji yet!" Daisuke shouted, starting to spin. "Stay right there!" Daisuke taunted, holding his breath and expanding into a giant, inflated ball of himself.

"That's the opposite of what anyone would do in this situation!" Guy said, jumping back just as he slammed into the ground hard and made the forest tremble. "What kind of jutsu is this? It reminds me of Choza!"

Daisuke didn't waste time, charging toward him in a dangerously fast roll that kicked up mud as he moved.

Guy let out a worried whimper and whipped around, running as fast as he could with the wind from Daisuke's whirling ball of death. He bounced from tree to tree just before Daisuke rolled over them. Daisuke caught up to the ninja and nearly flattened him, crushing the tree and throwing Guy to the ground. Guy rolled to his feet as Daisuke barreled toward him. Guy took a deep breath and pulled his fist back, twisting his body up through the ball of his foot and the hips, extending while turning in a punch that split the wind right into Daisuke's stomach. Daisuke gasped from the pain, sailing straight back with his quick deflation that left him spinning uncontrollably into the trees. Guy chuckled in relief, bouncing on his toes for a moment before going on the offensive yet again. "Like a balloon, huh?" Guy said. "All I have to do is pop you!"

"I'm gonna squish you like a bug," Daisuke said, inhaling quickly to roll toward him yet again.

"This bug bites," Guy said, hopping onto Daisuke's inflated shoulder and punching several teeth out of his face, " _hard!_ "

Daisuke flew over the battle between Kaede and Tatsumi and Susanoo. "You useless piece of shit!" Kaede spat, blocking both of Tatsumi's blades and Susanoo's massive, spiky stave with a staff made purely from rock. She kept her focus on Susanoo, not even needing to look back to block Tatsumi's strikes. "Looks like I get to kill three of you tonight," Kaede said, "because _Daisuke_ 's powers are useless!"

"Shut up! I'm trying!" Daisuke shouted back.

"Then try harder!" she shouted back, kicking Susanoo in the chest. Tatsumi swept her to the ground with the flat end of his blade and raised his weapon for the killing blow. She flicked her finger upward, summoning a thin pillar of stone to clip him in the chin.

"At least my Chakra reserves aren't shit!" Daisuke rebutted.

"Out of the other 97, Shinji and I are paired up with you," she said with disdain. "No wonder we're considered the worst squad of them all."

Kaede sent Tatsumi stumbling with another pillar to the side of the head, leaving him disoriented while Susanoo held his own. Tatsumi tried to shake his vision straight but his ears wouldn't stop ringing. The heat from the sweat inside his helmet didn't help. "I'm not going to leave you, Susanoo," he said under his breath, rushing forward anyway and continuing the fight.

Kaede whipped around, holding out her pillar to block but gasping as Tatsumi chopped right through it. Kaede screamed as Susanoo's stave cut a chunk right out of the back of her leg. "Now we got her," Susanoo said, rocketing upward from a stone pillar jutting from the ground and hitting his back.

"On the contrary, dipshit," Kaede said, sloughing off stone on the two halves of her staff into stone swords.

Tatsumi swung down again and one sword blocked it, leaving the rest of him open for a fatal stab.

"Tatsumi, get out of the way!" Susanoo roared, sliding in between Tatsumi and Kaede with his blade high in the air to cut her in half. His sword fell out of his hands with the shock of pain in both kidneys and his entire torso on fire from the pain. His eyes were wide from the surprise and he looked down, seeing redness pool under his clothes around the two swords running through him. The blood soon turned color to purple and black, his eyes crossing from the dizziness of the poisoned blade. He continued to scream in agony, with more stone blades jutting from the ground and impaling his legs, feet, and pelvis, rooting him to the ground.

"Susanoo!" Tatsumi screamed, his skin turning clammy with the mounting fear of his three opponents as Najenda's right hand man slumped forward on Kaede's blades. Blood poured from the big man's mouth and over her back, her laughs being the last thing he heard and his friends fighting for their lives the last thing he saw before he started fading in and out of consciousness.

"What's the matter, big guy?" Kaede taunted, twisting the swords to make him groan on his knees. "You're starting to look a little pale!"

Kakashi felt a cold streak up his spine as he heard Susanoo's blade and body hit the ground with a thud. "Damn it, damn it, _damn it!_ " he roared, catching Shinji's strike and kicking him into a tree. "Get out of here, Tatsumi! Get out now!"

"Not while that bitch breathes," Tatsumi shouted, charging forward with Bulat's might and striking with all his strength at the cackling Kaede.

Kakashi kicked Tatsumi out of the way and ducked another fatal stab meant for the country boy, rising with a palm strike to the nose that snapped it on impact. Kakashi rolled between her legs, slipping his hand around her neck and snatching his hand away to reveal a tag stuck to it with the corner of the kanji seal on the tag burning like a fuse. "Guy!"

Guy punched Daisuke into a tree, pulling his fist back after blowing through his opponent's jaw. "What? I'm trying to-" Guy's jaw dropped seeing the flailing freak fly through the air directly at him. "What the fuck, Kakashi?!" Guy rolled out of the way and dived into the bushes, covering his ears as the tag exploded with the treetop popping high above the rest of the forest. Black blood from the two creatures splashed all over the battleground, but the blood wasn't done spilling just yet.

"Daisuke! Kaede!" Shinji cried out, setting his sights on the Shinobi ready to put him down. Kakashi wasn't done with his rampage, however, countering Shinji's every strike with brutal palms, fists, and kicks. Kakashi ducked as Guy swept him away with a flying spin kick.

"Dynamic Entry!" Guy shouted after the fact, following Kakashi toward the dazed ninja and standing him up with a kick.

Shinji cut right across Guy's cheek with a kunai but Kakashi caught his arm, twisting it out of his hand and slicing Shinji's thigh with it. Kakashi tossed the knife to Guy and broke Shinji's jaw with his knee, allowing Guy to slice right across his back. The two Konoha ninja tossed the kunai back and forth as they beat him down, dodging black fireballs left and right while returning with crushing strikes all over his body. Tatsumi roared behind them and Guy took Kakashi's arm, nodding to him and jumping in the air. Shinji gasped in fear and blew fire at his third opponent, his attack turning into a shrill screech as Tatsumi chopped him in half with his blade. "Way to go, Tatsumi!" Guy said, landing next to him and clapping him on the shoulder.

Tatsumi turned solemnly to Susanoo lying on the ground. "If only I would have done this earlier."

"Tatsumi!" Lubbock shouted, running into the clearing completely out of breath. "I heard the commotion, what is-" Lubbock's jaw dropped at the destruction and the three beasts slain on the ground, but seeing Susanoo's motionless body facedown on the ground kept him silent. "What…" he stammered. "What happened?"

"These Danger Beasts aren't what they say," Kakashi said, "I don't know what, but there were a lot of close calls."

Chelsea slid out of hiding, joining the Shinobi and Tatsumi standing over Susanoo's body. "Susanoo," Lubbock said in devastation. "I can't believe he's gone."

"We can fix him, as long as the core is intact, he'll regenerate, but-" Chelsea's fists tightened, with hot, bitter and angry tears scrolling down her cheeks. "-it wouldn't have surprised me," she said in grief, glaring at Tatsumi. "If he didn't need to protect you, he would be walking alongside us, right now!"

Tatsumi didn't respond, but just hung his head low, hiding his own tears and disappointment in himself with his mask.

"Say something!" Chelsea demanded. "Don't just stand there like you did when he would have died for you!"

"Pointing fingers isn't going to help anyone," Kakashi said, "we'll see it that he gets properly avenged. We aren't going to take this sitting down."

"In the meantime, we need to get out of here fast," Lubbock said worriedly, "you guys probably attracted every knight in all the kingdom you were so loud, and with the Jaegers around every corner, we can't afford another fight."

"Guy, Tatsumi and I will complete our surveillance for the Danger Beasts and meet you back at the hideout," Kakashi said, "as much as I want to return with Susanoo now, we need to stop anyone else from dying tonight."

Lubbock and Chelsea worked together to lift Susanoo over their shoulders as the pallbearers of their recently deceased ally, nearly falling to their knees under the weight. "They need my help more than you, Kakashi," Guy said, standing in between the two carrying assassins and having no trouble at all holding Susanoo's weight.

"See you soon," Lubbock said solemnly, taking their friend away.

Kakashi and Tatsumi continued their patrol in silence, returning to the jagged, rocky cliff sides under the moonlight. "It was my fault," Tatsumi said, his voice choked up and cracking. "If only I had trained more-"

"Just stop," Kakashi said sharply, "that man knew exactly the risks he took when he signed up for this job. You're new, and you're still training. The only way to move forward is to intensify your regimen, keep him and what happened today in the back of your mind until you can pick up in the fight where Susanoo left off. Remember how you transformed after Bulat died? You're nowhere near finished yet."

Tatsumi took what he said to heart, but chose not to respond.

"You don't have to say anything now," Kakashi said, "but take what happened as a reminder for whenever you get too comfortable with the job."

They approached the cliffside, the ice on the ground alarming the Shinobi as he heard a grating noise in the distance. "Well, I-"

"Shut up, shut up," Kakashi told Tatsumi in a hurried, hushed voice, stopping just before they reached the top of the range. "Do you hear that?"

Tatsumi listened closely, hearing the sound of a blade cutting through flesh and bone. "Who is it now?" Tatsumi whispered.

"Stay here," Kakashi said, venturing out on his own up the last stretch of the cliffside. He pushed through some fallen trees, his silver hair going white at the sight of ice around the trunks.

"Who's there?" a familiarly haunting voice said from beyond the concealment. "Reveal yourself, this instant!"

Either she was expecting a visitor, or her hearing was that good. Regardless, Kakashi quickly tossed his mask and Shinobi tools into Tatsumi's arms waiting below. " _Run_ ," he mouthed, the concern in his eyes enough to make the other young man heed his warning.

"It's that banshee," Tatsumi shuddered under his breath, "but I can't leave him there," Tatsumi argued with himself, looking up and seeing Kakashi angrily sending him away again. A streak of winter shot down Tatsumi's spine, reminding him of just who Kakashi was dealing with. "He knows what he's doing, I'll just get out of here," Tatsumi said quickly, pulling himself down the path.

Kakashi pushed through the trees, leaning back just as a pillar of ice nearly pierced his eye and through his skull. "Tonight is not your lucky night, intruder," the icy woman said, "I've developed several new torture methods just for-" The sight of seeing her beloved once dead nearly made her drop her sword. "K-kakashi?!" she stammered, her face going red with her blush.

She was by herself chopping through a fallen boar the size of a boulder, cooking it alone around a campfire. The cliff had a nice view of the entire mountain range and forest, with the large moon shining brightly among the twinkling stars. "General Esdeath," Kakashi said, trying to hide his own fear as surprise and longing. "What are you doing here?"

Esdeath raised her hand, shooting four ice spears into the silent night. Four reptilian wails sounded in the sky and the Shinobi looked up, watching four draconic beings fall from the air to their deaths. "Hunting Danger Beasts," she said.

There goes running away, Kakashi thought, stepping out of the way of one of the beasts landing hard between them. Kakashi couldn't help but feel empathetic for the majestic, black creature, watching the general stomp through its skull with her heel to put it out of its misery.

"You're so silent, I must be dreaming," she sighed, "you have no idea how long I've been searching, knowing you were dead."

Kakashi acted out his best longing smile. "It certainly isn't a dream, my love," he said, feeling her tight embrace.

"Then let us continue living, Kakashi," she said, refusing to let him go. "Forever."

* * *

 **ESDEATH RETURNNNSSSSS**

 **WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE THREE 'DANGER BEASTS'?**

 **THEY'RE THE WORST SQUAD OF THEM ALL AND NEARLY KILLED SUSANOO, WILL NIGHT RAID PREVAIL IN THE END WITH THOSE ODDS?**


	15. Kill the Island

**DOES ANYBODY READ THIS ANYMORE (JK I KNOW YOU DO BB)**

* * *

"I know your scent anywhere," Esdeath giggled, embracing him tightly, "now tell me, my love, what happened to you? Where did you go? You look hurt!"

"After I passed out, I came to in a part of the forest unknown to me," Kakashi croaked, "I walked for days, trying to find the new Danger Beasts terrorizing the countryside to lend a helping hand while I searched for you, and I just knew that you or a Jaeger would cross paths with me at some point."

"You would have been walking forever if I hadn't decided to take the fight to them tonight," Esdeath said with a smirk, "but that sounds like you're trying to turn this around on me."

"I… can't… breathe…"

"Fight it and tell me your whole story."

"Like I said," Kakashi said, "searching for you was my primary objective, but as soon as I heard about these new monsters, I wasn't just going to stand idly by while our citizens were murdered."

"A true hero worthy of my grace," Esdeath chuckled, only squeezing him tighter. "A voice in the back of my head told me that you had deserted me to join the Revolutionary Army, can you believe that?"

Kakashi forced a laugh. "I'd never do that, never," he said, receiving a pat on the head.

"Good boy," she said, turning back toward the edge of the clearing.

"I don't have time for this," the Shinobi grumbled quickly under his breath. "Are you going to kill more of them while we're out here?"

"They're almost all gone," Esdeath said, firing another ice pillar into the air with her hand and dropping another draconic monster. "These have truly been a nuisance, but-" Kakashi blinked and her lips were pressed against his forehead in a sincere, icy kiss. "-thanks to them, we're together again." Her demeanor flipped, pointing an icy blade toward the bushes. "You can't hide from me; come out this instant!"

An ominous chuckle hung in the air and a lanky, pale figure with long, black hair rose from the shadows. "My apologies. I didn't want to ruin your moment."

Esdeath put down the blade, her expression softening but still displeased. "Oh, Orochimaru, it's you."

Orochimaru and Kakashi locked eyes, with the Shinobi's expression completely untelling of the panic happening from within. Orochimaru simply held his cocky, knowing grin. "You have a better ear than I thought, General. I was trained by those who kill in the shadows to hunt without making a sound. It's no wonder why you are the apex predator."

"Who's your friend?" Esdeath asked, pointing to the trees where Kakashi had pushed through to even get discovered in the first place.

A low, metallic chuckle drove a chill down Kakashi's spine with a second figure floating to Orochimaru under his brown coat. "I was certain the Prime Minister would have told you of my arrival, Esdeath."

Esdeath's face twisted into an ugly grimace. " _General_ ," Kakashi corrected as the mysterious new visitor pulled down his hood. He was a buff, tan man of average height with bright green eyes, spiky and long white hair, and a distinct, light, X-shaped scar over his face. He wore concealing clothing and moved without a sound.

"I am not your enemy," he said, "I'm Orochimaru's fellow scientist and the son of the Prime Minister. It is a pleasure to finally meet your acquaintance, but I'm afraid I cannot have you meddle in our field test." He pulled out a purple and black pendant, aiming it at the general.

"What is it you think you're doing?" Esdeath said apprehensively, watching a purple pentagram form beneath her and Kakashi.

"Sending you and your lover away for a honeymoon," Orochimaru said, staring at Kakashi, "giving you a chance to discover each other's _true_ selves."

"Esdeath?" Kakashi said, flinching from a bright purple flash. Orochimaru's glowing eyes stained his memory but upon opening his eyes, the serpent of a man was no longer in front of him. A cool, island wind ruffled his hair and the palm trees around them under the bright, hot sun. The oceans in front of him were endless, moving with soft waves back and forth with seagulls and pelicans singing softly overhead. "Where… where are we?" he stammered, wanting to fall to his knees in despair. Wherever this was, it was far, far away from the Empire. His friends were left to their own devices, and he was stuck with the Ice Queen. " _Maybe it's some sort of genjutsu_ ," he told himself. "Dear, I need you to hit me," he said, making her blush, "as hard as you can."

"Well well," she said, "I didn't know you were into _that_ kind of thing."

"That isn't what I meant!" Kakashi exclaimed. "This could be an illusion, and as long as we're stuck here, innocent people risk being killed by Danger Beasts we fail to destroy-"

"Remember who you're speaking to," Esdeath scolded, punching blood from his mouth with a strike that would have knocked anyone else out cold.

Kakashi stumbled back from the dizzying strike, seeing his blood stain the white sand red under his feet. "Well, this definitely is not an illusion."

"And you brush it off like a true warrior," she sighed, pulling his head up by his hair and planting a passionate kiss on her unwilling partner.

Kakashi would never know how she dealt with the taste of his blood in her mouth, although sometimes he believed that she drank it. She broke off the kiss, squeezing his cheek.

"This is certainly no illusion, it all feels far too real for that," Esdeath said, "I believe Orochimaru's ally used a Teigu on us to send us to this warm, relaxing, island paradise, I know which one he used as well."

"It can manipulate space," Kakashi said, almost in awe of the amazing ability that trapped him here.

"Smart boy," Esdeath said, "remember that the Empire has 48 of these Teigu, this one was rumored to have been created by a magician from a lost nation, and the Prime Minister failed to mention a son to me."

"Who do you think that man was?" Kakashi asked.

"We'll find out when we return to the capitol," Esdeath said as a matter of fact.

" _If_ we return," Kakashi said under his breath, following Esdeath along the coastline.

Esdeath pulled Kakashi close to her and put her free hand on the ground. "Let's take a look around the island," she said, using a pillar of ice to lift them high above the trees. Kakashi felt a pit in his stomach as his eyes surveyed the scenery in front of them.

"Ocean," he said in defeat, "ocean as far as the eye can see."

Esdeath smiled at the sight. "What a view, Kakashi- maybe Orochimaru was right, sarcasm aside, it's starting to feel like you and I are on an actual date."

"I guess that's one way to adapt," Kakashi said, making her laugh.

"I'm glad you're on board," Esdeath said, pressing her chest to his back and breathing icy air down the back of his neck. "How else do you want to _adapt_ , now that we have some time alone?"

Their pillar shook with a rumbling happening just off shore. "Whatever activity we're doing," Kakashi said, watching a humongous, humanoid monster with pale gray skin and sickly, yellow eyes rise from the water, "I'd rather do it without an audience."

Esdeath's entire aura was frosty, with ice forming on her hands. "Don't worry, my love," she said with a crazy smile, "this creature will not stand in between us and our time together!" She flicked one hand up, and hundreds of pillars of ice impaled the monster all over its body. Its eyes locked on the couple and with a grunt it stepped forward, surprising even the general with its brute strength. "I'm impressed!"

"There, on its forehead," Kakashi said, pointing to a long, fresh scar just above its eye, "that should be its weak spot!"

"My thoughts exactly," she said, firing another pillar straight at it. "We must be soulmates!"

"He's going to move out of the way," Kakashi said, taking a thin, sharp icicle from the forming ice field and running on the ice as it was created.

"He's nowhere near fast enough!" Esdeath argued. "Get back here right-"

The beast leaned its head out of the way and Kakashi leaped for it, driving the icicle through the cut and into its brain. Kakashi bounced off an ice pillar running through the beast's shoulder and jumped back onto the attack pillar, sliding to a stop right next to Esdeath.

"Wow," she said with astonishment, "it was I who believed that I could impress you with my powers to win you over, little did I know it was going to be the other way around."

Kakashi took her hand gingerly and jumped, looking down as another beast's arm passed underneath. "This one's going to be on top of us if we don't take care of it quick."

"Then allow me," she said, raising her hand and turning it into a pin cushion with hundreds of ice spikes raining down from the sky. The beast slumped forward into the ice pillar and the two warriors fell into the bushes below. Kakashi opened his eyes, staring into Esdeath's ocean blue ones.

" _How am I going to beat her?_ " he thought to himself, receiving another passionate kiss.

"Now that that's over," Esdeath said, pulling him back onto the beach and sitting next to him under the shade. "We can relax."

"There's something I'm curious about," Kakashi said, "we were interrupting a 'field test' before we got transported. I wonder what they meant by that."

"As do I," Esdeath said, pulling out a notebook and beginning to scribble something furiously, "for sending us here without my permission they will be reprimanded for it so we will learn soon enough. For now, we must explore the island, take down the rest of these Danger Beasts before they can get the drop on us again."

"Then the more we wait, the more opportunities we give them," Kakashi said, watching how her eyes darted up at him and down again at the notebook. "Are you- are you drawing?"

"Yes, this is a perfect backdrop," she said with all the authority her position provided, "it will be a reminder for us to come back here under less strenuous circumstances." She stood up. "But you are right. Come, my love, we must secure the island."

It seemed as if she did anything but, admiring crabs, the giant, strange and sweet citrus fruit hanging from oversized trees, and playing in the sand while Kakashi hacked and slashed his way through Danger Beasts left and right until the skies turned orange and pink with a sunset rippling over the blue waters that left him stunned. He didn't mind doing the work, however, for the first time he got to see her genuinely happy. He sat for a moment in the sand, completely drenched in sweat from the intense heat. "I think we got them all, Esdeath."

"I'm boiling, Kakashi," she said, unbuttoning her uniform, "how about you?"

Kakashi made sure to look away while she peeled her uniform meant for the Empire's harsh winter off and placed it on the nearby rocks. "I was thinking of taking a dip in the ocean, but given that the first beast we found was from there, now I'm not so sure."

"When did Kakashi the Cautious arrive?" she teased, running by him into the water and making him choke on the view. She wore what was essentially a white bikini underneath her uniform, squeezing her perfect, tall, athletic and curvy figure and flaunting her long, pale legs, large, perky bust, and her toned and shapely butt. Kakashi hated to admit it, but evil was insanely hot, maybe even more alluring and sexy than Leone. He slapped himself as a reminder of all the fellow countrymen she had killed, the countless Shinobi that died trying to protect their homeland from her, but he couldn't let that anger show now.

"I've kept him quiet for most of this trip," Kakashi said, throwing off his shirt and running into the water after her. It was cold and refreshing, with the sunset and island setting making him wish he was here with literally anybody else.

"There's the man I took," she laughed, diving under the water and coming back up, wiping the water from her sparkling strands of blue hair, her icy eyes shining under the sun. She caught Kakashi's awestruck stare. "Are you alright?"

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Yeah, um, I've figured out where we are."

"Southeast of the Empire, yes, I know," she said, "which means we're the only two on this entire island. I've lead this trip so far, now I'm starting to think this is a bit unfair to you. Tell me, what do _you_ want to do? You're in charge, under me."

Time froze for inner Kakashi as he weighed his options. He wanted to run, he wanted to fight, and he wanted to take down the Empire, all three things would not bode well at this time. She outclassed him in power, there was no way he'd take her down as he was right now.

"I think we should learn more about each other," Esdeath said with a suggestive smirk, "I could figure out how to get us home right now, but we cannot waste this opportunity."

"I thought you said I was in-"

"You took too long, dear," Esdeath giggled, pulling him back onto the shore.

"Then what do you want to-" Kakashi fell on his back hard with a swift sweep kick, looking up and finding his captor pinning him down, staring intently into his eyes. "Hey! There are other ways to do this!"

Esdeath laughed at the power rush this gave her. "You want me to stop? Then you'll answer everything I ask you, for now," she said. "First, who taught you how to fight so well? Your style is unlike any other fighter I've ever encountered in the entire Empire, in fact it reminds me of the Chinese Boxing some of my navy men encountered on convoy duty."

"Namito Minakaze," Kakashi made up on the spot, "I used to work in his restaurant out in the country as a kid, I picked up some martial arts from him and made it my own."

"Interesting, so you know how to cook as well?"

"No," he said with a chuckle, hiding years of stories and memories of brutal combat under a smile, "I was just a bus boy."

Esdeath smiled back proudly. "I bet you never guessed you'd be here now, did you? You're very talented, and a fast learner."

"That's quite the compliment, coming from you," he said, "I bet you're the kind of person who's good at everything you touch."

Esdeath's smile faded a little. "Not true, actually."

"How so?"

"The arts, music, poetry, painting, I'm not very adept at any of it," Esdeath said, "I tried playing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' on the violin for six months, every time it sounded like the fields of the enemy laying dead at my feet."

Kakashi forced himself to laugh with her. "How romantic," he said.

"Finally," she said, sweeping the tuft of hair covering his Sharingan out of the way and staring into the red, glowing secret he kept hidden all the time, "explain this, Kakashi."

Kakashi blushed, trying to look away. "It's a mutation," he said, "it's overly sensitive to sunlight which is why it's red all the time, and frankly, I don't like the way it looks. I got bullied because of it, so I just learned to keep it covered."

Esdeath's grip crushed his wrists, with her expression angry and cold. "Those cretins do not know true beauty when they see it," she said, "I will find them and have them hanged for-"

"So, uh," Kakashi chuckled nervously, "you're not from the Capitol, are you?"

Her grip remained tight on his wrists. "I'm from a hunting clan that specialized in hunting and killing Danger Beasts," she said, "and I was the daughter of their chief. I was taught how to use a blade at the age of five, bringing the fight of survival back to those who deserve to struggle more against the more suitable species. I was a natural hunter, taking down the sick, the healthy, the strong, the weak, nothing escaped me, at least nothing I wanted to escape from me did." She sighed from the nostalgia. "It was just my clan and the Danger Beasts, slaughtering each other for our own selfish need to be on top, until a rival clan of ours burnt our clan to the ground."

Her expression changed to a softer but still stoic gaze and she let go, rolling on her back into the sand to just stare up at the stars.

"My father taught me that day that the only way to get ahead in life is to be the strongest, to be the most dangerous and lethal predator out in the woods to keep everything else that bit at me at bay," she said with her hands behind her head nonchalantly. "I hunted so many Danger Beasts I eventually cleared out the entire forest, leaving just enough for them to breed again so I could come back and do it all over again. In the meantime, I moved on to bigger game."

" _Bigger game?_ " Kakashi said with slight concern.

"A hunt of predators among predators," she said, "ones that think, fight, move, and die just like we do. It's the ultimate trophy, the only one that matters to me, at least. That's why you and I work, Kakashi. We're the alphas of this giant, snarling, backstabbing, and untrustworthy wolf pack called the human race. As long as we have each other's backs, we're untouchable."

Kakashi kicked himself for empathizing with the murderous general who would enjoy nothing more that freezing his entire village over and sending it straight down to hell. "You switched prey because you wanted revenge on the other tribe, right?" He squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I'm so sorry that happened to you."

Esdeath smirked. "I don't hate them," she said, "in fact, I made an example of them, burying them alive in the same ice and snow they left my village in. I'm not talking about bugs like them, I'm talking about Night Raid, Teigu users, _Shinobi_ from the New World, true and proper challenges." She stood up, looking up at the stars with no emotion. "What happened to my father was regrettable, but for him to be correct on what he told me that day, he was a weak man up until he died."

Kakashi had never met such a soulless individual, and he had stared into the empty eyes of thousands he would have considered a such. She pulled him to his feet. "Where did you get your powers of ice, then? Since you buried your enemies in them, now I'm curious."

"You mean my Teigu?" she said with a sly grin, sticking his hand in her ample, soft bust to press his palm to the reddish black, spiraled, triple-scythed symbol on her chest. "I received it a couple years ago when I became the top general of the Empire. They call it 'Demon's Extract,' coming from the blood of an S-class Danger Beast held in an urn behind a case made of ice. No other general before me who attempted wielding the power of the Extract could keep their sanity, so immediately I was drawn by the challenge."

"You wanted to prove you were strong, and everyone else before you was weak," Kakashi said, "if you couldn't handle it, then you deserved to die."

"Yes, yes, I'm elated that someone finally understands," Esdeath said with growing excitement, "but more than that I felt like it was calling out to me personally. Some generals couldn't handle a drop. I drank the whole thing." She started to chuckle eerily, with her grip crushing his wrist again on her heaving chest. "The first minute or so was excruciatingly painful, every moment, every heartbeat was a day of torture, my own thoughts driving me to want to murder everyone in the capital just to silence the voice that had forced its way next to my conscience, but I was not going to let a mere chalice of blood rob me of making that decision for myself."

"And even now, you still have that blood circulating throughout your body," Kakashi said to the cackling woman holding him hostage as calmly as he could. "Fascinating, absolutely astonishing. Is that why you enjoy torturing people?"

Esdeath let out a condescending laugh. "Of course not- I've always liked doing that. If I didn't have second thoughts, I would have shown you just how much I enjoyed it back at the castle firsthand."

 _Psychopath_. Kakashi tried to laugh with her, realizing now the amount of danger he was in if he made any wrong move. Even if he ran away, she could raze the entire country to the ground with a single wave from her hand. "You'd torture me, honey?"

"Well of course," Esdeath said, no longer laughing but still grinning. "It's my favorite pastime, I need to show you someday."

Kakashi laughed nervously. "In the meantime, now that we've gotten to know each other, what do you say we continue this conversation on your bed at home, rather than in the sand?"

"Are you kidding?" she giggled. "We're spending the night. It's not ideal, but I want as much time with you to myself as I can get." She snapped her fingers, forming a spacious, mansion-styled bedroom igloo. She saw the gaunt look in his face. "Don't tell me you're afraid of sleeping on sand," she taunted.

"Of course not," he said, "I'm just wondering when, or if, Orochimaru's buddy is going to reverse the spell he used to take us here. If not, we'll have to piggyback a flying Danger Beast back home."

"He has to," Esdeath said, "or I'll send his body parts all over the globe."

The cheeriness with which she said that chilled him to the bone.

"If you're worried about sleeping," Esdeath said with another suggestive smirk, pinning him against the wall, "I don't plan on having much of it either. I've caught my prey, and I plan on taking my time with him."

Kakashi's face went beet red, staring toward the windows of the igloo longingly, desperately yearning to run as fast and as far as he could.

He was going to die.

* * *

 **WILL OUR HERO SURVIVE THE NIGHT? WILL HE AND THE GENERAL EVER MAKE IT BACK HOME? HOW WILL KAKASHI ESCAPE ESDEATH'S CLUTCHES AGAIN? FIND OUT IN THE CHAPTER AFTER NEXT (BC I THINK Y'ALL KNOW WHAT THE NEXT ONE'S ABOUTTA BE) OF** _ **KAKASHI - GA - KILL**_


	16. Kill the Bachelor

**Own nothing**

 **Remember y'all**

 **Lemons are OPTIONAL**

 **If you don't want to read them, you don't have to :D**

 **Just wait for the next update**

* * *

She giggled seductively, snapping her fingers and making the igloo cuff his wrists and ankles to hold him against the wall in a painful position. "I'm not going to hold you like that, if you behave," she said, releasing him with bruises where he was trapped. "In the animal kingdom, some females are larger than their male counterparts who must work tirelessly to please the superior sex or else get killed during the act."

Kakashi kept his cool, but he also wanted to keep everything else. "Like spiders, the female will eat the male if he's not careful."

"So then you know what will happen to you if you don't do exactly as I say," Esdeath said.

"I'm not a bug," Kakashi said, playing along, "I won't be that easy to destroy."

Esdeath sighed. "Seryu told me you would say that," she said, "it's what they all say." She pressed her bountiful chest against his, grinding her thighs against his and chuckling at the result. "Wow, you're growing so much already," she said, sliding her hand down his ribs and past his pelvis slowly to suddenly rip off his pants, "maybe it's because now I'm allowing you to stare, don't think I haven't noticed."

He hated himself for it. She had a tall, athletic build with large, busty breasts that bounced with pink, perky nipples, a delicious butt that was fat and tight that ate up her underwear between her slappable cheeks, a set of long, toned legs and thick thighs that he wanted to stick his head in between, and a dominating aura that he was determined to challenge. Her shining blue eyes stared up at him as she kissed around his sensitive thighs with her luscious, pouty lips, using her slick hand to tickle his member awake.

"Ah, yes," she said with satisfaction, staring at his long, girthy, curved aching for her touch again, "and you shaved too, naughty boy- did you know this was going to happen sooner or later?"

Kakashi's toes curled into the sand with her wet, smooth hand sliding slowly up and down his length with her squatting in front of it. "I thought you said you've never done anything like that before."

"Seryu and some of my servants educated me in what to do with you thoroughly," Esdeath said with a wolfish grin, "if I had known I could control another human being with this, I would have started a long time ago. You're practically melting in my hands, ironic."

"It goes both ways," Kakashi said, "who knows, at the end of the night, you might be the one asking me to-" He bit his tongue with a sudden painful squeeze on his shaft.

"Good boy," she said, "I hope you can handle me, once I get started on something I enjoy, it's nearly impossible to get me to stop."

"Are you sure we should be doing this without protection?" Kakashi said, feeling her other hand dig its nails into his clenched bum.

"That's the challenge," she giggled again, "Seryu warned me that most men would climax far too early, this way, you will be forced to last as long as I command you to."

"That's not how the male body works," Kakashi said, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as a thin, spinning bulb of ice spread his cheeks apart and pushed an inch of its way into his sacred Shinobi temple to drive shocks up Kakashi's spine. "Maybe it was a personal issue with Seryu."

Seryu scowled at him, grabbing the base of the shaft. "Are you saying you're not up to the challenge?"

"No, no, it's not that at all," he laughed anxiously, "I'm just cautious, that's all."

"Then be prepared," Esdeath said, pulling her cold lips to his hot head and making him squirm, "for I will attack without mercy!"

Kakashi had to fight back a loud, defenseless moan from her pointy, cold tongue lapping around his head like a kiss of death before torturing him with her tight, hot throat. Whatever Seryu showed her, either it was extensive and intimate or Esdeath was just a natural, sucking out his soul with a vacuum around her lips making his knees weak from his head all the way down to the base and back again. She released him with a loud pop, with strings of saliva hanging on from her lips to his aching head begging for more.

"You taste wonderful," Esdeath said, laughing at his stunned expression, "well now I don't know if I should continue, you look like you're about to have a heart attack."

"Oh, please don't stop, love," Kakashi said, the taboo of the enemy turning him on even more.

"No, I'm going to make you work for it," she said, standing up and turning around. She bent over slowly, beckoning him forward with her jiggling ass. "Make me climax with just your mouth, if you touch yourself at any point, I will freeze it and snap it off, understand? On your knees!"

Kakashi complied for the sake of any children he would want to have later in life, bringing his face right up to her tantalizingly evil, round, perfect butt.

"What are you waiting for?" Esdeath said, slapping her own ass with an echo through the igloo. "Get to work this instant!"

Kakashi carefully bit the white thong hiding in between her pale, heavenly mounds, letting it roll down her legs to reveal her pink, juicy and wet, small ice crevice with a neatly trimmed, tiny, blue triangle of hair just above her pink button of a clit that dripped like a melting icicle in the spring. As his face got closer he could feel the heat coming off of it unnaturally, giving her tight folds a quick lick to confirm what he was feeling.

Esdeath yelped in surprise, turning it into anger. "Do not tease me, slave! If you do well, I'll continue to pleasure you with my mouth, but if you fail, we will stop this instant and I'll leave you here in a casket made of ice, am I understood-"

Kakashi dug in because his life depended on it, tasting her sweet, slick melting member with a sweet and tangy twinge to it, completely the opposite of what he'd expect of a person this _vile_ , but as long as he kept her purring, he wouldn't stop. Her ass seemed to fold around his face, her cheeks soft, squishy, but with a firmness that made him work to put his mouth to her pussy. It was the only part of her body that was warm, even her thighs he wrapped his arms around to stay planted were as cold as as her soul. Leone would kill him if she knew, and revive him just to kill him again if she knew he was starting to enjoy it.

"Oh my, yes! Don't you dare stop now or I'll pierce your heart, I'm so close!" Esdeath said, biting her bottom lip and swishing her rear in his face. He entire body was on fire from his rapid, experienced work on her clit, licking and kissing her little love knob with just the right amount of precision and speed. She chuckled as his dick throbbed in response, just begging for attention. "I'm almost- almost- oh, _oh GODDDD-"_

Kakashi's face was covered in a freezing, icy steam that blew him into the sand with a thick frost settling over his knees and lower legs as she stood up suddenly, marking her territory with a stream of hot, glistening squirt that froze over his legs on contact. "I'm lucky my tongue wasn't there," he said under her screams of delight, "it would have been like licking a telephone pole in winter-"

"Yes, that was just what I needed!" she said with a sigh, turning around to loom over her captive with a devious grin. "So, how do I taste?"

"I could eat you out all day," he said, grunting with a kick to his side that laid him out on his back.

"Wish granted," she said, sitting on his face and leaning forward, feeling him moan throughout her body as her cold breath formed steam on his hot, burning head. "Do you want me to suck it?" she asked him cruelly, massaging his heavy balls with just her fingertips, running her hand up and down his shaft lazily while her other hand tickled around his tight butt with an icy nail, making him buck every time she slipped in a thick pillar of ice. "I can't hear you," she said, grinding on his face.

"Please, don't leave me like this, I beg of you!" he squealed.

"You look like you're about to come already," she teased, licking him everywhere but his head to make him howl, "maybe I shouldn't…"

Kakashi let out a muffled whimper as his answer and she gave him an overwhelming reprieve, lapping around the head once before diving down to the base. Kakashi wanted to pass out from the stimulation, her hot, coiling, tremoring throat contrasting with her soft, freezing lips and fast and merciless tongue melting his head like an ice cream cone under the sun. Combined with the intoxicating, numbing aroma of her frothy igloo dancing on his nose and mouth, there was no match between his tongue and her entire body. She took his length down her throat over and over again, making eight to nine inches look like nothing with every sloppy, wet swallow with her cold hands pressing hard on his prostate with her icy battering ram on her middle finger. "I'm coming!" he screamed, nearly crying as she ignored it, moving faster with every second.

She felt him swell and throb in her throat and released him suddenly, letting his red hot, painful rod swing freely in desperation for release. "Not yet," she scolded, pointing her hand back and freezing his arms deep through the sand and planting him to the rocks underneath like his legs. "You will not come unless I want you to," Esdeath said grimly, pointing her hand at him and letting the ice that flowed from it stand him up and pin him against the wall.

"I'll do anything you want, just _please_ let me come!" he cried out, making her overjoyed.

"That is exactly the kind of dedication I want," she said, seeing his eyes widen in fear like a helpless deer staring into the eyes of the wolf as Esdeath wrapped her soft snow pillows around his lightning blade, "but you need to prove to me that you can take it." Kakashi's head tilted back with a moan that could be heard all around the island from the soft, squishy pleasure of her creamy white mounds rolling over his head and the shaft, his entire body sweating and shaking from the slow torture, her elbows squeezing her puffy, perky tits together to envelop him in all directions, tugging and pulling with slow but deliberate motions. Her skin was smooth, silky, and hot, with her lips pecking the gleaming precum oozing out of his head and rolling it on her lips. "It tastes like vanilla," she said, smiling victoriously at the man melting between her wonderful breasts. "I think I want more, can you give it to me?"

"I think at this point, i can give you a gallon or-"

She drove another ice pillar up his rear, this time making him cry with a twisting pressure whirring on the fuse for his creamy explosive tag. "I did not ask for a quip," she snapped, flicking her cold tongue on his head rapidly while she alternated the up-down motion with her snowballs on his shaft and head, even using her pointy nipples to fiddle with the tip. "I want a simple yes or no, dear."

"Yes, yes!" Kakashi pleaded, his chest beginning to hurt from the stress of holding it for so long.

Esdeath stared into his eyes with a cold, dead, emotionless glare, slowly wrapping her lips around him and sliding down to the hilt of his sword yet again. Kakashi's toes curled into the sand, feeling the burning surge from the swirling ice stake inside him pushing him past his limit. She continued glaring at him and a cold, painful sensation right around the base. She lazily released him, laughing devilishly at his look of horror etched on his face from the ice ring squeezing him shut. He had grown even bigger just before the clamp was placed. "I will give you the chance to prove yourself, she said, standing up and gripping his shoulder, "you're going to melt it yourself."

She rolled her throbbing, boiling staff between her chilly thighs, making him numb in the pleasure while she purred into his ear. "God damn it, you're good at this," he grunted, moaning every time her clit clashed with his head.

"You can thank Seryu for that when we get back," she said, grabbing the sides of his head and forcing him to stare into her crazy gaze, "but right now, I want you to just focus on me." She pushed him inside, ripping moans out of them both from the absorbing, engulfing, swallowing force of her magma hot glacial geyser and Kakashi's edged and powerful ice pick jammed on her womb's licking, invasive entrance that flicked the inner entrance to his penis with one quick magical motion. Every part of Esdeath's demonic insides moved, blowed, sucked, vibrated, and massaged him on their own in different patterns and shapes attack the shaft and glans, rolling, gripping, pushing, pulling, licking, and kissing in extremely tight, gooey, and squishy goodness that was hot and trembling, sucking him in like a vacuum as if she was trying to steal his soul through it. His entire body felt warm and tingly like he was just getting drunk and his head spun, he could barely lift his arms without feeling like he was going to pass out in ecstasy that made him drool. Her tight vice kept an overlaying pump over all the other hundreds of stimuli coursing up to his lulled brain only processing his most carnal desires, as if it was ready to coil and twist around him like the wet, gushing, slick towel it was and then turn his balls into the sand they stood on. He tore through the ice on his arms immediately and wrapped around her tightly, kissing her deeply and passionately. He kept one hand behind her back, rubbing it lovingly and massaging her luscious, silky blue hair while the other arm kept her close around the waist, rubbing her thick thighs and apple-bottomed tush. He crushed her chest with his, their nipples brushing against each other so he could feel her heartbeat through her beautiful, snowy pale skin. "What you're feeling right now is a side effect of my Teigu," she said, "at least I believe it to be so."

"It's supernatural," Kakashi said, sliding out just to get sucked right back in. "It's not letting me go!"

" _I_ am not letting you go," she said, flicking the ice to slide him on his back with her on top. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head with a maniacal cackle as ice swirled around her aura. "I will _never_ let you go!" she roared, sliding up his entire length, feeling ever vein begging to blow throb inside her core and his head ramming against her deepest part as she came down. She started to pick up speed, leaning forward and looking down past her swinging breasts brushing against his chest to watch her swallow him again and again. The ring made a satisfied clink every time her powerful butt slapped his thighs under their combined moans. She grinned through the pain with Kakashi gripping her thighs hard, leaving red imprints on her skin. For him, it felt like every pump was its own orgasm, making his chest flutter and his fingers dig into her, his teeth clench and his legs shake. Every time her thighs grazed his, shocks ran from their spines up to their brains and back down to their toes, turning them into a senseless, panting ball of sex that stopped only for her to turn around to pick up speed. Kakashi held onto her thighs again as her pants mixed in with her excited, crazed laughs in a voice that almost wasn't her own, fucking like an animal as her ass crushed his pelvis with satisfying, squishy, wet, sloppy smacks. "What a kick!" she growled. "We're a perfect match in mind and body, I love the way it hurts, just a little, and you are loving the pain, aren't you?"

"It hurts so much," Kakashi said honestly, his arms nowhere near as strong as her thighs plunging him into her over and over. "If you damage it, I won't be able to-"

"I'm not stopping any time soon, so you'd better learn to love it!" she bellowed, turning back around and laying on his chest, licking his neck and face. "Just give in, make it easier for us both!"

Kakashi's face turned red from the horrific pain below while she cocked his jammed gun refusing to let him fire, his hands digging into the sand with a greater, burning buildup growing with each thrust. He started to buck upward fast and hard, making her moans shake and her breasts flop into his face and over his chest. "You want it, do you? Well fine! Try this!"

His knees crashed through the ice and he dug his hands into her waist forcefully with a fight between his pelvis and her thighs commencing. "I love it when they fight back!" Esdeath howled, clamping down tightly and wringing him out. "That's it, my love, make me come agaAAAAAAIIIII _aaaaaaiiin!_ "

The cold steam from her spectacular squirt shrouded him in a tingling mist. His Sharingan turned on involuntarily, letting him slip from coils of ice around his arms and legs and maneuver around Esdeath silently.

"Don't run away," she giggled, summoning ice from the ground to hopefully trap his feet. Kakashi was already in the trees, looking down at the General waiting for just the right moment to pounce. He looked down at the ring, seeing only the slightest bit of melting on the outside of the base. Maybe if he was the one who moved, it would be much faster. She looked around, scowling at the wet sand from his sweat but failing to find her man. "Come out, face me like a warrior!"

Kakashi waited until her back was turned, drooling while staring at her ass calling his name. He darted down from the branch and she whipped around with a kick that just barely missed his face. "I'm right here, woman!"

"Thought you could sneak up on me from behind, did you?" she said, her cocky smirk fading as the Shinobi flipped onto her leg as light as a feather and vaulting off her shoulder. She whipped around with a spray of ice to freeze him on the spot but he was no longer there. He tapped her shoulder but she knew better, turning the opposite way and swinging at the nimble warrior's broad chest with a deadly backhand. Kakashi ducked, sliding between her legs and rising with his cock between her thighs and his hands cupping her perfectly ample, heavy breasts.

"I got you now," he whispered into her ear, bending her forward and sliding inside her tundra trap again to elicit a sharp, drunk outcry of ecstasy from the ice queen.

Esdeath's heart skipped a beat at the sentiment, the fullness and warmth inside her steamy core that warmed even her frozen exterior, but she was never one to lose easily. "Do you?" she chuckled, getting him right back. He pulled back to thrust in again, feeling a dull, cold prod suddenly attacking his prostate again to plant him in between her insides and his own. Kakashi didn't care to her surprise, Leone had teased him enough with it to be used to it. He smacked her ass hard, making her yelp as he made her ass jiggle with his hard, long thrusts all the way from her lips and knocking on her womb. She wanted to kill him for a split second, but the thrusts driving her wild convinced him to let him do it again. "What was that?! Hit me harder!"

Kakashi grunted with every wet squelch from his pelvis hitting her thighs and his key unlocking her tumbling walls, drooling all over her glistening, shiny butt that rivaled Leone's in softness, bounciness, and squishiness. He closed his eyes, pumping faster and faster. He hit her harder, making her groan with a growling laugh. "How's that?"

"Pull my hair, you little bitch!" she barked, pumping back with equal force on her hands and knees while screaming out commands that he followed dutifully for 30 minutes straight.

Kakashi's Sharingan spun again, and in a flash he was holding her up with her facing him, thrusting upward as fast as he could with the pressure around his base dropping ever so slowly. "You're going to drive me insane!" he howled.

"That's the point, dear!" Esdeath said, hyperventilating in his face and staring into his eyes again, seeing his spinning tomoe as one black ring under the red. "You're swelling so much, I love the way you're throbbing too, are you going to burst?" She slammed down hard, pushing him against the side of the igloo and fucking him back hard and fast. "Am I too much for you?"

She licked up a trail of drool from his mouth. "I think you're just right," he panted tiredly, giving her his all.

"You're so rough now," she teased in between squeaky outcries, "and you're much deeper than before, you realize that if you come in me after all the milking I've done on your prostate, I will most certainly get pregnant."

Kakashi had always realized that, but every time he would try to pull out, she would clamp back down onto the head and drowning him in pleasure again. "We- nng- gurg-"

"Are you going to give me what I want now?" she asked him, breaking the wall with her powerful thrust and making him land hard on his back. She bucked up and down violently on him with a hand tight around his throat, her nails drawing blood with his mind going completely blank turning into a machine. "You're at your limit now, I'm too much for any man, even you! This pussy will defeat you, and I will claim you as mine forever!"

They both groaned with a sudden expanse in girth splitting her in half, bucking up so fast they could no longer distinguish one thrust from the next.

"This can be yours forever, just remember that if you ever think about running away!" she said, his crossed eyes indicating his utter submission. "Go ahead, squirt everything you have inside me, do it now!"

Kakashi desperately tried to push her off but her thighs locked him in. She squealed in delight while he howled, the pair writhing in heaven together as Kakashi exploded deep into her womb and gushing around their waists, sticking to her milky thighs. "Oh shit," he said with tired exasperation, his head spinning and chest heaving while she actively drained him dry.

She watched spurt upon spurt gush out of her giddily as she slowly pulled back from her kill, with frozen, shining, white clumps of everything that shot inside her womb falling out and melting in the sand. "You're _mine_ ," she said victoriously, "and as long as I keep myself cold in there, we can go again and again and I'll never get pregnant, unless I wish to sire a child. What do you think?"

Kakashi didn't respond for a moment, waiting for the world to stop spinning.

"At least now I'm certain that if anyone would do it, it would be you," Esdeath said, lying on top of him with his still hard member poking in between her thighs. "Your sword seems to want to continue battling," she said in a low, sultry whisper into his ear. "Let's satisfy its bloodlust 'till morning!"

Kakashi screamed internally, moaning externally with her starting the process all over in her inescapable, unrefusable honey pot. Any chance he had to escape now was completely screwed.

* * *

 **ESDEATH THE CRAZY STRIKES HARD**

 **WHAT DID Y'ALL THINK? OUT OF THE THREE LEMONS, WHICH ONE DID YOU LIKE THE MOST SO FAR? EXPECT TWO MORE DOWN THE LINE, GENERALLY IN MY FICS I'LL HAVE 5 MAX, NO MORE THAN THAT BC THESE TAKE ME FOREVER TO WRITE**

 **AND FOR THOSE WHO ARE JUST HERE TO WHINE ABOUT LEMONS EVEN THOUGH YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ THEM, NEXT CHAPTER WILL CONTINUE THE STORY K THANKS BUH BYEEE**


	17. Kill the Peace

Kakashi awoke the next morning from a restless night to a high-pitched humming off in the distance. He looked over to Esdeath feeling a triggered throb of pain in his thighs and pelvis, seeing her still fast asleep. The sun rose over the beautiful, clear waters, but he was focused on the purple, ominous glow in the dark forest that reminded him of a glow from yesterday. His eyes widened from the opportunity and he quickly awoke the General. "Esdeath! Esdeath! The transportation Teigu, it's active!"

"Wh- what?" she said still half asleep, following his finger to the purple portal in the distance. Her eyes flew open and she scrambled to put her uniform over her swimwear while he quickly threw on the clothes he had yesterday. "We need to hurry, he cannot hold it open for long, and I want answers!"

The two warriors darted through the sands and into the forest, hopping over vines, branches, and bushes, moving in between the trees, toward a purple yin-yang that seemed to take longer to get to the farther they ran. It was clear that Kakashi was more used to the forests, being from the country, seeming to bounce effortlessly from tree to tree to land like a feather on the dirt without the slightest sound. Her suspicion was blinded by her admiration for the skill, trying to follow in his footsteps the wider the gap became but finding it difficult just to keep up. "Esdeath, please! Ditch your heels, you might not make it in time!"

"Then find the man who sent us here and beat him until he does, that's an order!" She growled in frustration, simply propelling herself through the air with streams of ice from her hands. Kakashi still managed to make into the circle first, outstretching his hand for her to take. "Kakashi!"

"Esdeath, grab my-" In a flash, the Shinobi was gone.

Esdeath stopped on the cold, empty ground for a moment in rage, turning the tropical island into a floating ice cap with a burst in rage of her power. Her anger melted into sorrow, however. "Fate led you into my hands for a second time, do not think we will not meet again!" she said earnestly, as if he could hear her. "Hopefully he will wait at the Capitol, but he was determined to defeat the Danger Beasts in the woods…" She sighed, returning to the coast and pointing her hand out at the sunrise, forming a bridge of ice in front of her to start the long walk home.

* * *

The Teigu brought Kakashi back to the Empire, but not where he was before. He stood inside a noble's courtroom fitted with a red carpet over a white and blue checkered floor. A single, old man sitting on a throne watched the people bustle below like ants out of the wall which was entirely glass, guffawing at a joke he must have made to his silent, pleasantly smiling maid. His Sharingan flared alertly, looking around for the man wielding the magic teleporter. He found not a single trace of him, but the maid held his interest, being oddly familiar. "All cattle, they are," the old man said, staring down condescendingly at the townspeople. Kakashi climbed up one of the pillars, keeping his eye on the open skylight. He was on the top floor on a wing of the castle, nowhere he should be unless the emperor and Prime Minister were in his line of sight. He shimmied his way across the vaulted ceiling by grabbing the chandelier poles every few feet to carry himself across. "We need a cull, forget fighting those damned squinty-eyed Orientals abroad, General Esdeath should bring her forces into the streets and sweep at least seventy percent of them into the gutter, make room for those who deserve it."

"I agree, Prince Jibble," the maid said, bringing the self-throned, spoiled elder a cup of piping hot tea. Kakashi noticed a glint of a hair-thin needle between her fingers. The red twinge in her dirty blonde hair gave him a small sense of comfort. "Are you ready for your 'massage?'" she said suggestively, with Kakashi cringing from the giddy sound coming from the older gentleman.

"Well of course, I've only been waiting for it all day, you harlot-" The old man suddenly stopped talking with the needle poking his neck. He stopped doing anything at all.

"You might want to finish your tea first," the maid said, turning around for the doors and morphing into Chelsea with a victorious smirk. "It's getting cold."

She stopped right in front of the door as the knob turned from the outside, making her stomach drop right then and there. She morphed back into the maid but didn't need it, with a silver streak darting down and sweeping her up to the open skylight. Chelsea prepared to jab the stranger with the needle, nearly sighing in relief seeing the familiar red glowing eye of the Sharingan greeting her. Kakashi nodded, looking down at the Jaegers pouring into the room ready for battle. "Your Highness!" Wave shouted, running into the room with armor on and swords drawn. "We're here to protect you!"

"I think we're too late," Seryu said grimly, running over to the chair and finding the old man slumped over.

"What, did he have a heart attack while we were gone?" Bols asked.

Kurome looked down at the carpet, seeing a small line of white sand that peaked her suspicion. "I don't think so," she said, looking up toward the skylight and finding nobody there.

"That was close," Chelsea said, quickly and silently scaling down the adjacent wall. They landed in a pile of hay by the stables and darted out, briskly walking toward the outskirts of the city. "What a coincidence I ran into you, huh? The boys said you did some recon with Esdeath and it got pretty hairy."

Kakashi chuckled at that comment as they broke into the forests, hopping on Chelsea's getaway horse and hightailing it through the woods toward the base. "You could say that."

"Is she dead?" Chelsea asked bluntly.

"No," Kakashi said with disappointment in himself, "I had none of my weapons on me, trying anything on her would have been suicide."

The horse stopped in the stables of the base, where Mine busily attended to her brown steed. "Kakashi! You're back!"

"I almost died too, you know!" Chelsea said expectantly.

"Yeah, uh, hi?" Mine said with sass.

"Don't act like that just because you're too loud for close range assassinations, child," Esdeath taunted, sticking her tongue out.

"I'm 18, asshole," Mine spat, "and that mouth of yours is going to get you killed one day."

"Ironic, coming from you," Chelsea said, "maybe if you worked on your aim as much as you work on comebacks then maybe you'd have the highest kill count on the team."

"I'm going to show you just how great my aim is!" Mine said, pointing her gun at the two field assassins.

"And I'm going to head inside," he said, darting into the mission room.

"There's the undercover agent," Lubbock said, making breakfast alongside Akame, Leone, and Guy.

"Or should I say undercover _lover_ ," Guy teased with a wide, sleazy grin, receiving a slap across the face.

"What are you talking about?" Kakashi lied.

Leone nearly spat out her coffee. "Don't play dumb, boy," she said, smirking but hiding a bit of jealousy, "Tatsumi told us how you vanished with Esdeath from that crazy guy's Teigu, she's head over heels for you and I have a feeling I know exactly what went down."

"Poor, poor, you," Lubbock said, weeping fake tears, "stuck alone with a crazy beautiful woman for an entire night."

"You don't need to feel ashamed," Akame said dryly, scrubbing the plate a bit more intensely from aggravation. "Dirty, maybe, but not ashamed."

Kakashi rolled his eyes under the crushing laughter, turning around and walking straight into Leone's arms. "I'm just glad you're back, again. Stop running off with that she devil, okay?"

"Believe me, I'm trying," he croaked from the pressure around his neck. "Esdeath isn't going to be happy when she comes back either, the portal back to the Empire closed before she could come with."

Leone gasped. "So you just ditched her?" she laughed. "Never knew you could be such a jerk!"

"No, no, she couldn't run fast enough," he said, "I didn't intend on leaving her."

The doors to the kitchen opened while the cooks busily prepared plates for everyone else, with Najenda walking in wearing a black tank top and comfortable gray pants. It looked like she had just come in from training, with a sweaty towel and breathing hard. "Then we have to expect another increase in guard patrols around the forest," she said, "she's going to be looking for you. Every time we would go out on bounty retrieval, she would always beef up the surrounding guards."

"So then just how old are you, boss? You both look like you've been fighting forever!" Tatsumi asked, entering the dining room and mission room in similar workout attire.

"Tatsumi!" Lubbock exclaimed, watching the boss turn completely red with rage. " _Never_ ask the boss that!"

"Ask her what?" Tatsumi said innocently, spiraling to the ground with a backhand heard around the world.

" _That,_ " Najenda hissed, "but if you must know, she and I are in our mid 20's, thank you very much."

"Only that?!" he blurted out, taking a kick to the back.

"Let's eat, everyone!" Susanoo said, walking in with Sheele close behind.

"Susanoo," Kakashi said with a smile, "you're healing nicely!"

"That's one of the best parts about being an organic Teigu," he said, beating his chest, "you're going to have to do better next time to put me down."

The assassins all sat around the table, with Guy pulling out seats for Kisame and Mei coming back from the field. Najenda sat at the head of the table, keeping her expression stern among the jovialness around the guild. "As much as I hate to have to kill the mood," she said, silencing the party. "Our final set of informants from the revolutionary army have completed their mission. With these new Danger Beasts confirmed as a military wing by my spies, there is no better time to move than while they are still organizing. Just three of them nearly killed six of us in one skirmish, imagine what it would be like facing an entire army of them."

The guild looked to each other for comfort, but found everyone else just as troubled. "Do we know who is controlling them?" Mei asked. "Cut off the head of the serpent, you don't get bit."

Kisame chuckled. "I like that… it's violent."

"There are two of them," Najenda said, "the first one is a relative of the Prime Minister himself named Syura, according to rumor he uses a Teigu known as Shambala, it can transport anyone anywhere. We don't know much about the other one, but he is known to all but the general and her elite as 'The Snake.'"

"I've already ran into them," Kakashi said, "the other guy is known as Orochimaru. When I return to the capitol for recon, I'll learn more about him, but consider him a highly dangerous target that none of you should handle alone until then."

That name made the other three ninjas' hearts sink. Mei and Kisame glanced at each other nervously but continued listening. "This, however, is only a secondary concern. How many of you have heard of the Path of Peace?"

Tatsumi nodded. "My village used to practice it religiously," he said, "they say that doing good deeds will grant you longevity and luxury in life."

Kisame scoffed. "If only that were true."

"That's the kind of optimism that gets some people through the day," Guy said, "don't put it down."

"It's the kind of optimism that will get you killed, bushy brow," Kisame said.

Guy's face twisted into a deep scowl. "What… did you just call me?"

"Back to what's important," Najenda said, completely done with the nonsense, "we have reason to believe that they have taken up arms in response to domestic disputes over religious freedom between them and the capitol. Given their vast influence on the Eastern reaches of the Empire, it's imperative that we take advantage of this unrest to strike."

"Hold on, hold on!" Tatsumi exclaimed. "You know how many people would die in the case of a full-fledged religious rebellion? We need to curb it, stifle it or something!"

"We're not superheroes, kid," Kisame said, "if you want that kind of happy ending, you're in the wrong story."

"This is what happens in unstable countries," Kakashi said, "when the people get mad enough to point weapons at the government telling them to point weapons at each other, nothing we can do will prevent an uprising. This was a long time coming."

"And once the people have it fixed in their mind that they're taking the oppressor down," Mei said, melting a potato into vapor in her hand, "anything that's in their way will be burnt to the ground."

"That's where we come in," Najenda said, "we're allied with tribes to the west of the path the Empire will surely use to crush the east. If we sweep in from the opposite side, the Empire will be forced to defend itself on two fronts. They'll be taken completely by surprise when the revolution hits them hard from behind. Once the pandemonium is set into motion, Night Raid will lead another branch of the revolution from the south and charge right through the middle of the capitol, come armed to the teeth since we'll experience the most fighting there."

"If we're just going to attack head on anyway, then why flank them on the sides with that large of a force?" Mine asked.

"Shaka Zulu's bullhorn formation implies several things," Kakashi said, "firstly, the horns are capable to do their job individually, with flanks on both sides we'll anticipate reinforcements or surprises from Orochimaru and the new army. Secondly, if we attack last, the bulk of the attention will be segregated to the flanks. The heat won't be avoided by any stretch of the imagination, but it'll be enough for us to barrel through. Once we're in, Night Raid can go to work on our primary objectives. Lastly, this is an effective siege on the capitol, there will be skirmishes in the front of our head, but once the front lines are in, it's going to get heavy for the Empire afterward."

"For a country boy, you seem to know a lot about warfare," Mine said, eyeing him suspiciously, "but can't Esdeath just wipe out all of our forces with a wave of her hand if she really wanted to? Why waste the lives at all when we can just sneak in ourselves and take the government out?"

"Esdeath, if she's smart, she'll be hunting us down with the Jaegers before she bothers with anybody else," Najenda said, "but if she's efficient, she'll focus in wiping out the horns before the capitol gets surrounded."

"Then it's really a coin toss if we're screwed or not?" Mine argued. "Won't the march to the Imperial castle be a death march considering how many checkpoints there are?"

Najenda chuckled. "That's where we come in. Kakashi has some very intimate knowledge of the castle guard rotations, the capitol layout, and schematics of every weak entry point in the Empire. We can divide our team among these checkpoints before starting the invasion, including gathering intel on Orochimaru, Syura, and their army. Inevitably, we would have torn the royal guard and their second in command, General Budo, between the castle itself and the territories surrounding it, as guarding these checkpoints is vital to the Empire's ability to repress attackers at any moment. Kakashi can explain better."

Kakashi slid his portion of the table back, revealing a hand drawn map of the capitol with extensive detail on the castle from his adventures with Guy. "There are 13 of us, 10 checkpoints to clear, and three objectives within the castle itself: finding the new army barracks to determine their total strength, compromising the castle's inner security systems, and disabling the flare present on the watchtower in the top spire. I'd suggest that I go into the castle, since I already know the layout and patrol rotations."

"Then I'll go with you," Guy said, "if we get caught, worst case scenario we'll be with the Jaegers and can keep them distracted while the rest of the team completes their objective."

"Unless they're on patrol," Akame said, "if anyone should go into the Castle, it should be me and Chelsea. Her shape-shifting abilities are unrivaled, and I'm the cleanest assassin here. If I have to silence a few guards, no one will hear them hit the ground."

"The first and second checkpoints are located near the scouting revolutionary base and the church of the Path of Peace," Najenda said, "so Susanoo and I will clear those and check in with the gathering forces there. The rest of you will clear out the checkpoints, understand?"

"We're going it alone?" Sheele asked.

"Yes, but only for this stealth mission," Najenda said confidently, "this is what you've trained for, is it not? Your only targets are the two commanding officers in charge of each checkpoint, arms ledgers, rotation schedules, messages to and from the capitol, we must everything we can to disturb their operations without letting them know we're there. We leave for this in one week, after our last clash with the Jaegers we need to lay low until we're absolutely ready to strike." She looked right at Kakashi. "There are also a few last minute intel operations I need to carry out. Understood?"

"Yes, boss," the assassins said in unison.

"Dismissed," Najenda said, standing up and walking outside with Susanoo and Chelsea. Kakashi nodded to the other ninja and they followed him out, meeting the boss and her associates in a clearing under a waterfall that shrouded them by natural beauty. "I wanted to know," she said, "how are your states handling the recent developments? I heard the Mist Village is still allied with the Empire helping with the fight abroad, but I have yet to hear any update from Konoha."

Kakashi shook his head. "We've been responding ever since I got here." Kakashi pricked his thumb, performing a hand signal and pressing his hand to the ground. The wide-eyed, brown pug appeared in his official uniform from a small cloud of smoke. "You've been instrumental in helping me draw out anyone and anything that could carry out the war after we dispose of the Emperor and his army's leadership."

Najenda seemed to take offense judging by her expression. " _Instrumental?_ "

"Your intel operatives are good," Kakashi said, "finding out who I was that night, all those months ago, was something I didn't expect. I didn't know you, nor Night Raid all that well at that time, so I kept a journal to keep Konoha updated on me, you, and the Empire in case things go awry. Along with that, I could warn my people of the enemy's every move." He gestured at Pakkun happily circling his feet. "At any point, Pakkun would have swarmed the capitol with twenty of us if he gave the right letter to the Hokage."

"Only _twenty?_ " Najenda said in slight awe. This man was a killing machine on his own, surpassing everyone including her when no one was looking with the other three not far behind. They accelerated her plans immensely.

Chelsea gasped in delight, turning to Kakashi with a starry look in her eyes. "Can I pet him?"

"Yes, but not too much," Pakkun said, making all of them jump.

"Talking dog!" she exclaimed.

Pakkun's brow furrowed. "I'm sure you've seen weirder."

"Pakkun, they're sorry," Kakashi said, "be nice."

"And who is this little guy?" Najenda said, bending down and basking in the cuteness of his own tiny blue flak jacket and ninja headband.

"He's the guy I'd want by my side on any mission, no matter how dangerous," Kakashi said, "he's the reason the 'savages' abroad, as the Empire put it, have stayed one step ahead of everyone."

"Another mole," Kisame said, "you Konoha ninja seem to be growing from the ground."

"Actually, I'm a pug," Pakkun said, making Mei melt.

" _SO. OVERWHELMINGLY. ADORABLE,_ " Mei squealed.

Kakashi pulled a slip of paper and a pen from Pakkun's flak jacket, writing down the plan of attack on it and handing it back to the puppy. "He can get there in five days at most."

"We attack in seven," Najenda said, "we cannot delay this any further."

"We don't need a response," Guy said, "knowing what we're about to do, they'll force a heavier naval presence from the Empire and retreat further into the mainland once Esdeath's blundering underlings get there."

"What else are you not telling me, Kakashi?" Najenda asked.

Kakashi kept a poker face. "Afraid I can't tell you that."

Najenda scoffed. "I guess what I'm asking is what happens after the Empire falls?" she said. "Are you going to give the reinforcement signal anyway and take us all over for your homeland?"

Pakkun sensed the distrust and started growling behind Kakashi's leg at her.

"It'd be incredibly easy," Mei said, "after all, the country will be in complete disarray, no leadership, no army, they take you out, establish a puppet, done."

All eyes were on the two Leaf Shinobi, glancing at each other warily. "The Leaf has no desire for conquest nor world domination," Kakashi said. "After we put the Empire on its knees, we're returning to Konoha to leave the rest of the world alone."

"In any case, I'm going to start keeping a closer eye on you," she said, looking him up and down. "You and I need a better correspondence of intel anyway."

"Understood," Kakashi said, "Chelsea, you can put down the needle."

"What?" Chelsea said, playing dumb with the assassination tool she had hidden up her sleeve.

The spies, assassins, and ninjas walked back to the base through a well-obscured path. "I should let you know something important about the Path of Peace," Najenda said, leading Kakashi back into the base. "A priest named Bolic acts as the personal assistant and second in command to the high priest, only known as the Lord.'"

"Seems like a fitting name," Kakashi said dryly.

"Bolic is a spy acting for the Empire," she said bluntly, "if he kills the Lord, then he'll destroy all of the momentum the Path of Peace is building up for the rebellion. Simply, we need to take him out. As much as I would like to hand this off to the assassins and be done with it, this entire operation is a counter assassination so we'll need everyone on board. I want you and your fellow Shinobi to accompany Akame, Leone, Chelsea and I to the church."

"Eight's awfully big for a quiet operation," Kakashi said.

"I fully expect the Jaegers to be waiting for us in the masses," she said, "Chelsea's a shapeshifter, and the former two have yet to be associated with us in the Empire's paperwork yet. We're predicting at Wave, Bols, and Kurome to be there, and I'll be watching out for Esdeath and any reinforcements should we be ambushed. I'll drop you and the Shinobi in, while Chelsea, Akame, and Leone cause a distraction with a Danger Beast out front."

"Then my group of four takes out the target and gets everyone else out while you're drawing the Jaegers away from the target," Kakashi said, "what about the rest of the team? If you're occupied, we'll need a getaway. If the Jaegers are there, it's going to be one hell of a fight."

"Mine and Lubbock will be watching the action from the outskirts, Lubbock to compensate for what I can't see in the air, and Mine to keep an eye on everyone from a distance," Najenda said, "finally, Susanoo and Sheele will provide backup if it gets too hot out there. They'll bring in the horses as well for a getaway, once the Jaegers are on our trail we're going to need to split them in as many directions as we can if we have any hope of bringing them all down at the same time without bringing the entire army after us."

"What about Tatsumi?" Kakashi asked, following her into the mission room to brief all of it again to the rest of the team.

"He'll be assurance for you that Bolic is dead," she said, "remember Incursio's special ability."

"There a lot of moving parts to this," Kakashi said warily.

Najenda smiled, ringing a bell by her chair that summoned all of the assassins back inside. "And there are a lot of us," she said, gesturing to the other 11 assassins. "It's time we use that to our advantage."

* * *

 **THE NEXT CHAPTER'S ABOUTTA BE SOME REAL GTA V SHIEEETT**

 **WHO ARE YOU EXCITED TO SEE IN ACTION?**


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